A Twist of Fate
by x.SodeNoZangetsu.x
Summary: As Knuckles is walking home one night, he runs into a young echidna who calls him 'Daddy'. Refusing to believe that Knuckles is not his dad, the young echidna goes home with Knuckles. Now, Knuckles will soon discover the true meaning of friendship.
1. I Found You Daddy!

A Twist of Fate

Chapter 1

It was well past midnight in the city of Station Square. Only a few people here and there and a minimal amount of cars drove down the streets. Stores and restaurants were closing for the night and many people were heading home. Among these night hawks was Knuckles the Echidna. He was heading home after a late-night party with all his friends. Now as tired as he could be, he just wanted to go home and rest up. Little did he know resting would soon be the last thing on his mind.

Station Square was a whole different place at night. Instead of friendly people running the streets, at night, thugs and gangs were the ones who ran the city. Crimes were constantly committed and police cars usually chased speeding cars. Knuckles always ignored all the commotion and besides, everyone knew not to mess with him.

Knuckles was walking through the train station when he was stopped by something… or someone.

"Daddy!" a voice squealed.

Knuckles felt arms being latched around his legs almost like they were hugging him. Knuckles turned around and blinked a couple times not sure if what he was seeing was real. Behind him was a small echidna who looked exactly like Knuckles himself. He even had on small boxing gloves! The only difference was the young echidna had big blue eyes and his shoes were different.

The echidna let Knuckles' legs go and looked up at him. Knuckles stared at the young echidna. What the heck was going on and why did the echidna call him 'daddy'? The young echidna cocked his head at Knuckles' stare.

"Daddy?" it asked.

Knuckles looked around, and after spotting no other echidnas, turned back to the young one. He knelt down in front of him and the echidna grabbed Knuckles in another hug. Knuckles was taken aback. He had never gotten this much attention before. People in the train station stared and some 'awwwwed'.

So, apparently this echidna was lost and he thought Knuckles was his dad. Knuckles had to admit when he first saw him, he thought he was just seeing things because he was so tired. But now this couldn't be a dream.

Knuckles pulled the echidna off him. He stared into his blue eyes as if he was trying to see who his parents were, just by staring at him. He found nothing at all.

"Kid, where are your parents?" Knuckles asked him.

The echidna pointed at Knuckles who sighed. He was about to stand up and walk away, but he knew he couldn't leave him by himself in the train station. Who knew how long he had been wandering around before he found Knuckles? He only seemed like he was 4. Before Knuckles could say anything, the echidna said something else.

"Daddy I'm hungry," he said, holding his stomach.

"Um, okay?" Knuckles said, still confused about what was going on.

He looked around and noticed a McDonalds that still appeared to be open. Knuckles had no idea what kind of food kids liked, but it was his only option for now. He looked back at the echidna who was sucking on his thumb.

"How about we go eat over there?" Knuckles asked him, pointing to the McDonalds.

The echidna nodded enthusiastically and watched Knuckles stand up. Knuckles stood up and began to walk into the McDonalds, when he felt something in his hand. Knuckles looked down to see the little echidna was holding his hand and was rather close to Knuckles.

"I don't like this place," he whispered.

Knuckles managed to smile a bit and wrapped his own hand around the smaller one. He had no idea who this echidna was or if he even had any parents, but for now, Knuckles knew he needed to take care of him. At least until he found out who his parents were.

They walked into what was pretty much a deserted McDonalds. There were still a few people sitting and eating, but it was mainly empty. Knuckles walked up to the counter, the young echidna still holding on tightly to his hand. Knuckles bent down next to the echidna again.

"Do you know what you want?" he asked him.

The echidna nodded and held up three fingers. Knuckles raised and eyebrow and looked up at the menu and saw Chicken Nuggets next to a big number three. How the young echidna knew that was a mystery to Knuckles but he shrugged and ordered Chicken Nuggets and a milkshake for himself.

After they got their food, Knuckles led the echidna over to a table in the far corner of the room and they sat down. The small echidna began eating once Knuckles set the box of food in front of him. Knuckles watched him, lazily drinking his milkshake. He was now even more tired then he was before. The echidna finished eating and looked at Knuckles.

"Daddy, where is Mommy?" he asked.

Knuckles stared at the echidna across from him. He didn't know why, but he felt like pulling the young child into a hug. He shook the thought away so he could answer.

"Listen kid, I-I'm not your dad okay? I don't know where your parents are," Knuckles told him.

"No, you are my daddy," the echidna said.

Knuckles decided it was best not to argue right now. He couldn't even come up with a good argument he was so tired.

Knuckles sighed and then asked, "What's your name?"

The echidna looked around him before picking up a napkin and a pen lying on the table. He scribbled something down on it and then held it up for Knuckles to see. Knuckles could barely make out what was written on it. He guessed it was Justin although the J was backwards and there was an e where the i should be.

"Justin?"

The echidna nodded his head. "I don't know how to spell it right though," he said.

"Oh."

Justin looked back at Knuckles. "Can you teach me?" he asked.

"Look kid, maybe tomorrow, but right now, I'm too tired to do anything," Knuckles replied.

The two soon left so Knuckles could head home and go to bed. Once they were outside the McDonalds, Justin grabbed Knuckles' hand again and put his thumb back in his mouth. They boarded the train and sat down near the door. Justin crawled into Knuckles' lap and hugged him.

"I don't like this place too," he said in a meek voice.

Knuckles smiled and wrapped one arm around him to assure him it was okay. Justin looked up at Knuckles and smiled.

"I'm glad I found you again Daddy," he said.

Knuckles didn't say anything and just stared back at him. He wanted to say something, but he had no idea what. It's not everyday you have someone latch onto your legs and call you 'Daddy'. So, Knuckles just kept silent and smiled. Justin rested his head on Knuckles' crescent and was quiet the rest of the trip.

Knuckles continued to stare at Justin. It was amazing how much they looked alike. Again, Knuckles wondered where he came from. Knuckles was supposed to be the last echidna, but if this was real and not some crazy delusion Knuckles was having, he wasn't. Knuckles knew he had to go along with being his dad until he found his real dad; if he ever did. He wondered what happened to his parents and how he got separated from them. Knuckles frowned knowing what it's like to get separated from parents. At least Justin wouldn't have to grow up by himself.

---

The train arrived in Mystic Ruins an hour later. Knuckles woke Justin up and together they walked out of the train station. Justin looked around once they were outside.

"This is not where we live Daddy," he said.

"Uh, I know. We, uh, moved," Knuckles replied.

"Oh okay!"

Knuckles continued leading Justin to Angel Island. On the way they passed Tails' workshop. The lights were still on and Knuckles thought about dropping Justin off at Tails', but thought against it. Knuckles crossed the bridge to Angel Island and looked over where the shrine was to see a faint green glow being given off by the Master Emerald. At least Eggman hadn't stolen it while Knuckles was at the party today.

Knuckles walked into a small wooden house he had built himself. It only had three rooms, a kitchen, one bedroom and the main room which had a couch, table and TV. Knuckles looked down at Justin and saw he was grinning.

"Uh, welcome home," Knuckles said.

"Cool!" Justin yelled, letting go of Knuckles' hand for the first time in an hour.

He ran over to the couch and climbed onto it. Minutes later he was sound asleep. Knuckles chuckled at how fast he fell asleep. Knuckles walked back into the bed room and pulled off the quilt from the bed and went back into the main room to cover Justin up. He left the lamp by the couch on in case Justin woke up and got scared. Knuckles then walked into the bedroom, plopped down onto the bed and fell asleep within seconds.

**Well there's the first chapter of my new story. Tell me what you thought of it please. I have chapter 2 and half of 3 finished so if people like it, I should update quickly! **


	2. Confusion and Frustration

**Well I'm glad to see people like this story so far. So, for you all, I've decided to continue this story and post the next chapter! –Everyone cheers- Yeah… Oh and since I forgot to add the disclaimer in the last chapter I'll post it here.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Knuckles, Rouge or any other Sonic characters. They are all owned by SEGA. I do however own Justin, who I created. I also do not own the song 'If Everyone Cared' by Nickelback. **

Chapter 2

In the morning, Knuckles woke up and walked out into the main room forgetting about the events last night. When he saw the small echidna asleep on the couch he almost yelled, but quickly remembered what had happened. Knuckles walked over and turned the lamp off since there was plenty of light from the windows and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast.

He had no idea what kids liked so he just made some toast and bacon. Justin woke up a little later. Knuckles heard him yawn and get off the couch. He walked into the kitchen and smiled at Knuckles.

"Hi Daddy," he said, waving and rubbing his eye.

"Hey," Knuckles waved back. "Uh, I made you some breakfast if you're hungry."

Justin licked his lips before climbing into the chair. He sat on his knees so he could reach the food. Knuckles smiled before going back to eating. Justin quickly devoured the toast and took a bite of the bacon. Knuckles watched his face wondering if he liked it or not. Justin smiled real big and ate the rest in one bite.

After breakfast, Knuckles went to make up the bed and Justin went to watch TV. When Knuckles walked back into the main room, he saw Justin on the edge of the couch watching the news. Justin looked at Knuckles, then back to the TV.

"Daddy, who is that?" he asked.

Knuckles walked over to the TV and looked at the screen. It was showing some news channel with Sonic being interviewed. Knuckles smirked and turned back to Justin.

"That's my friend Sonic. We can go meet him later if you want," Knuckles said.

"Yay! I like meeting new people," Justin replied.

"Okay, but first, why don't I show you around?" Knuckles asked.

Justin nodded and they left the house. Once they were outside, Justin asked Knuckles to give him a piggy-back ride. Knuckles stared at Justin for a moment before Justin explained to him what they were. Knuckles picked him up and put him on his shoulders. Justin wrapped his arms around Knuckles' neck and Knuckles walked off.

He showed Justin the whole island. He showed him the forests, mountains, lake, caves and lastly the Master Emerald shrine. Knuckles put Justin back on the ground as he walked up to the emerald. Justin walked up behind him.

"What is this?" Justin asked, staring at the emerald.

"This is the Master Emerald. I'm its guardian and protect it. It's very powerful," Knuckles explained, trying not to tell him the whole story.

"I don't remember you having this before," Justin said.

Knuckles sweat dropped. "Uh, well, that's because it's, uh, new!"

"Oh okay!"

Knuckles sighed. At least he believed things easily. Knuckles knew he had to guard it for a couple hours before Tikal and Chaos could take over. He knew Justin might get bored waiting. Knuckles looked down at the beach then back to Justin.

"Why don't you go play down at the beach while I guard this for a few hours?" Knuckles suggested.

"Okay!" Justin replied.

"Just stay where I can see you okay? And don't go too deep into the water," Knuckles yelled after him, hoping that was something parents said to their kids.

Justin nodded and ran down the stairs of the shrine. He ran over to the beach and began playing in the sand. Knuckles smiled before he sat down at the edge of the shrine and watched him, every now and then, glancing back at the emerald. He could hear Justin squeal and laugh every now and then as the waves would hit him. That's when he heard a familiar feminine voice.

"Hey Knuckles, how's it going?"

Knuckles looked behind him and saw none other then Rouge the Bat standing behind him. He smiled at her as he stood up.

"Hey Rouge. Why are you here?" Knuckles asked.

"Just thought I'd drop by. Make sure you were okay," she replied, giving him a wink.

Knuckles looked back over at the beach to make sure Justin was okay. Rouge followed his gaze and also noticed the small echidna. She looked back at Knuckles.

"So, who's the new kid?" she asked.

Knuckles looked back at her. "His name is Justin," he started. He sighed and began to tell her the story. "He thinks I'm his dad. He ran up to me in the train station last night and hugged me. I took him home, but… Rouge, I'm not his father. I don't even know how to be a father. I don't know what happened to his parents either. He was all alone when he ran up to me. I tried to tell him straight off I wasn't his dad, but he wouldn't believe me. What's even stranger is that he looks exactly like me, but he has blue eyes. I know one day I'll have to explain to him I'm not his dad, but… I just don't know what to do!" he explained.

Rouge looked back at the younger echidna playing in the sand. She looked back at Knuckles and saw he looked desperate.

"Wow, sounds like you've got a lot of responsibility to handle," she finally said.

"Will you help me raise him?" Knuckles blurted out before he could stop himself.

Rouge looked at Knuckles with an eyebrow raised. Knuckles quickly looked away. "I mean, I can't force you or anything, but I just don't know what to do…" he muttered.

Rouge smiled. "I'll help as much as I can. But for now, it's seems as though you've been a pretty decent father in his eyes."

That's when Justin came running up the stairs of the shrine, covered in sand.

"Daddy, I made something for you! Come look!" he said, pulling on Knuckles' hand. He then noticed Rouge. "Who is this?"

"Uh, Justin, this is my friend Rouge," Knuckles told him.

Rouge knelt down and smiled at Justin as he waved. Justin stepped closer to Rouge and looked at her.

"You look like my mommy," Justin said.

Rouge blinked and looked up at Knuckles. Knuckles only stared back at her, not knowing what to do. She looked back at Justin.

"Um, thanks?"

Justin smiled before he looked back at Knuckles. He ran over to him and tugged on his hand once more.

"Come on Daddy I want to show you what I made!" he exclaimed.

Knuckles let Justin pull him along. Rouge followed behind. Justin led Knuckles and Rouge over to the beach and walked over to something lying in the sand. Justin pointed down at the sand. Knuckles followed his finger and his heart almost got caught in his throat.

In the sand were two stick figures. One was big and the other one was smaller. They were both smiling and the bigger one was holding the smaller one's hand. Under the picture were the words: 'Me and my Daddy'. The e and d were backwards, but Knuckles was still able to make out what it said. Rouge looked over at Knuckles to see his reaction. He seemed lost and even afraid.

A flashback flashed through Knuckles' head. He was standing on a beach with his father when he was not even three. His father was holding Knuckles' hand and they were watching the sun set together. Knuckles then pulled away from his father and wrote something in the sand. He smiled before turning back to his dad and pointed to what he had written: I love my Daddy. His father smiled and ruffled Knuckles' dreadlocks. _"I love you too kiddo,"_ he had said. That was the last thing Knuckles ever did with his dad.

The flashback ended and Knuckles continued to stare at the drawing in front of him. Justin looked up at Knuckles.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

Knuckles finally found his voice. "I-It's great."

Justin then looked over at Rouge.

"I can add you too," he said.

"No, I think it's great just the way it is," Rouge told him, speaking the truth.

Justin smiled bigger.

---

Later that night, Justin had gone to bed and Knuckles and Rouge were conversing in the main room. Knuckles had just finished telling Rouge the whole story with all the details about when he met Justin and now they were sitting in silence. Knuckles had his head in his hands, his teeth grinding in frustration.

"I just don't know what to do Rouge. He needs someone to take care of him, but I can't handle something with that much responsibility. I don't even know who the kid is! I don't want to make him upset or anything, but I'm just not ready for this. I can't handle it," Knuckles mumbled into his hands. "He's making me remember all the times I spent with my father…"

Rouge looked down at the floor, glancing over at Knuckles.

"I know how you feel Knuckles. Tomorrow we can go over to Tails' and maybe he can explain why he's calling you his dad," Rouge said. She heard Knuckles sigh. "Don't worry. You're doing great so far."

Before anything else could be said, a yell was heard from Knuckles' bedroom with crying following after.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Justin cried.

Knuckles and Rouge jumped to their feet upon hearing his cry. Rouge looked over at Knuckles.

"So I'm his mom now?" she asked.

"Guess so," Knuckles replied, running into the bedroom.

Justin was sitting up in the bed, knees against his chest and tears running down his cheeks. Knuckles ran into the room and over to the frightened echidna. Justin grabbed Knuckles and began to sob into his fur.

"What happened?" Knuckles asked.

"I had a bad dream," Justin replied just as Rouge walked in. "I was somewhere scary then I heard a big bang. I ran away and while I was running, I saw where the bang came from and… and…" Justin squeezed Knuckles harder. "You and Mommy were lying on the floor. I tried waking you up, but I couldn't."

Justin began to cry again. Knuckles wrapped his arms around the small boy. Knuckles looked over at Rouge who walked over and sat down on the bed. She returned Knuckles' stare before patting Justin on the back.

"It was just a bad dream. It will never come true so don't let it scare you, okay? Mommy and I are right here," Knuckles said.

Justin sniffed and looked up at Knuckles. A smile came over his face. Justin crawled over to Rouge and hugged her too. Knuckles smiled as Rouge hugged Justin back.

"Nothing's going to happen okay? You're safe here. We promise," Rouge whispered to him.

When Justin let go of Rouge, Knuckles picked him up and put him back in bed. He covered him back up and he and Rouge turned to leave, when Justin grabbed his hand. Knuckles looked back at him.

"Daddy, will you sing to me? Like you used to?" he asked.

Knuckles glanced over at Rouge asking for her assistance; she just shrugged her shoulders. He looked down at Justin.

"Sing to you?" Knuckles asked.

Justin nodded. "Yeah. You always sing to me after I have a bad dream."

"I do?"

Justin nodded again.

"Well uh, what did you want me to sing?"

"The song you always sing to me," Justin replied.

He hummed a bit of the song and thankfully, Knuckles knew which song it was and he knew the lyrics. Well… Most of them. He sighed and sat down on the bed next to Justin. Rouge smirked as she watched Knuckles.

'_I've gotta see this,'_ She thought.

With that, Knuckles began to sing.

"**From underneath the trees, we watch the sky; Confusing stars for satellites. I never dreamed that you'd be mine, but here we are, we're here tonight singing 'Amen, I, I'm alive' singing 'Amen, I, I'm alive'…**"

Rouge's mouth dropped a bit at Knuckles' singing. She had no idea he could sing as well as he was. She smiled and continued to listen as Knuckles continued to sing to Justin.

"**If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, then we'd see the day when nobody died. And I'm singing, 'Amen I, Amen, I, I'm alive. Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive…**"

Knuckles didn't know the next verse so he skipped to one he did know.

"**And as we lie, beneath the stars, we realize how small we are. If they could love, like you and me, imagine what the world could be. If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, then we'd see the day when nobody died…**"

Knuckles stopped singing and looked down at Justin. He was now fast asleep again, a smile on his face and holding Knuckles' hand. Knuckles hadn't even realized that Justin had grabbed his hand until Knuckles gently pulled it away. He sighed quietly.

"I think he's asleep," Knuckles whispered.

He looked over at Rouge as she got off the bed. She walked back out to the main room. Knuckles followed pursuit slowly. He walked to the doorway and stopped. He turned around and looked back at the small echidna in the bed. Knuckles smiled at him as he turned off the lights and left the room.

When he entered the main room, he found Rouge standing in front of the couch, her arms crossed and her right foot tapping on the floor. Knuckles stared at her.

"What?"

"I had no idea you knew how to sing," Rouge said, a smirk coming across her face. "Is that what you do while guarding the emerald?"

Knuckles blushed. "No. Sometimes I do, but very rarely. I don't know where I learned how to sing. I just remember my father singing to me when I was little."

"Well wherever it came from, it was very good," Rouge replied, smiling.

Knuckles looked down at the floor. "Thanks."

Rouge smiled and headed for the door. Knuckles walked up behind her.

"Hey Rouge, will you come over tomorrow?" Knuckles asked, looking at his feet.

"Why?"

"Well, it's just that since Justin is calling you his mom… uh," he trailed off as he blushed.

"What?"

Knuckles shook his head. "I just need your help okay? Besides, he seems to like you," he finally replied.

"Knuckles we've already been through this. I will help you with this okay? Just be at Tails' tomorrow around noon and we can talk to him about it alright?" Rouge told him.

Knuckles nodded and Rouge flew off. Knuckles watched her go before closing the door and walking over to the couch. All he could do now was for tomorrow. Maybe then, he could solve this mystery and go back to his normal life. Little did he know, what he would find out tomorrow was the very last thing he was expecting.

**Cliffy! Yes I know you're furious aren't you? . Well, I'm two thirds done with chapter 3, but I'll be gone from home for two nights. I'll still be working on it though so it should be posted by the end of the week or beginning of the next one. Please review!**


	3. Last Thing on my Mind!

**I'm glad so many people are enjoying this story. Since I've been getting such good reviews lately, this chapter was posted sooner then I expected it to be. Oh well, good news for you guys. **

**Oh and Kysic, I did appreciate your review. I'm glad you like my story so far. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you. **

**DISCLAIMER: See chapter 2.**

Chapter 3

Knuckles awoke in the morning to the TV. He opened one eye and saw Justin sitting on the floor in front of it watching cartoons. Knuckles chuckled quietly as he looked over at the clock. 11:45. Knuckles yawned which got Justin's attention.

"Good morning Daddy!" he smiled.

"Hey," Knuckles said, yawning once more.

Knuckles got up from the couch and made himself some toast. He could see Justin had already eaten because there were crumbs on the counter and the loaf of bread was open. Justin came into the kitchen and crawled up onto the chair facing Knuckles.

"What are we going to do today?" he asked.

"Uh, well we're going to my friend's house for a little. I need to ask him something," Knuckles said.

"Will Mommy be there?"

Knuckles let out a sigh. He knew he had to explain to Justin that he and Rouge weren't his real parents.

"Justin look, I'm not your real father okay? And Rouge isn't your mother," he started.

"No, you're my daddy! You look just like him!" Justin interrupted.

"Listen to me okay? I may look like your dad, but I'm not him. I'm not even married or old enough to have a child. You don't even look anything like Rouge. Except your eyes are the same color," he said. _'Weird,'_ he thought. _'His eyes are exactly the same color as Rouge's… That's just gotta be a coincidence.' _

"Then where are my real parents? And how come you look so much like my daddy?" Justin asked.

Knuckles sighed. "I don't know! That's why we're going over to my friend's house. Let's see… What was your father's name?"

"Uh," Justin seemed to be thinking. "I think it started with a K."

"W-Was it Knuckles?"

Justin jumped up from the table. "Yeah! That was it! I remember Mommy yelling at you one night," he said. "What's your name?"

Knuckles gulped. "Knuckles," he said.

"See! See! You _are_ my daddy!" he yelled.

"What was your mother's name? Was it Rouge?" Knuckles asked him.

Justin nodded. "Was that the person's name who came over?" he asked.

Knuckles hesitantly nodded his head. If Justin said that was his mother's name, then that would mean… Knuckles blushed at the thought. Justin smiled.

"Yeah that's her name!"

Now Knuckles was even more confused. How could that be true? He wasn't married! He hadn't even thought about that at all. He knew he didn't have a kid or even a clone for that matter. Knuckles rubbed his head.

"Okay, we're going over to Tails' right now," Knuckles mumbled. He took Justin's hand and led him out the door. "I want to know what's going on here."

Justin looked up at Knuckles. "Daddy, are you mad at me?" he asked.

Knuckles returned his stare. "No, I'm just confused about something," he replied.

The two arrived at Tails' workshop in less then five minutes. When they walked in, they saw that Rouge was already there along with Sonic, Amy and Shadow. Rouge was talking to Tails, and Sonic, Amy and Shadow were just sitting in silence. Knuckles walked into the workshop. Justin stayed behind Knuckles and continued to hold his hand.

Justin kept glancing over at the black and red hedgehog. He didn't remember him at all and Justin thought he was kind of frightening. Amy soon ran up to Knuckles.

"Hi Knuckles! So, is this the little echidna Rouge told us about? He's very cute," Amy said, smiling down at Justin who had his thumb in his mouth once again.

"Yeah this is Justin," Knuckles said back, letting go of his hand.

Justin cautiously walked up to Amy. "Hi, what's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Amy! Amy Rose!"

Amy then stood up and turned to Sonic, who was eating a bag of chips.

"Sonic, get your lazy butt off that couch and come introduce yourself," she scolded.

Sonic rolled his eyes and replied, "Yes ma'am."

He walked over to Justin and looked down at him. Justin stepped up closer to Sonic and studied him closely.

"Hey, you are that guy I saw on TV yesterday. Daddy said you are his friend," Justin said.

"Yep! Sonic the Hedgehog, one and only!" he smiled, giving Justin a thumbs up.

"Yeah, the one and only faker," Shadow replied calmly from his spot over in the corner.

Sonic shook his head. "And that's Shadow. He calls himself the 'Ultimate Life Form'," he told him.

Justin looked over at Shadow. "Hi Shadow," he said.

Shadow opened one eye to look at the mini-Knux. Justin looked away from him and back at Sonic.

"I don't like him," Justin said in a quiet voice.

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, neither do we," he replied.

"Then why do you hang out with me?" Shadow asked.

Sonic stood up and looked back at Shadow. "I don't know. Why do you hang out with us?" he countered.

Shadow opened his eyes and stared at Sonic. "Good question. I don't really know," he answered.

Justin turned back to Knuckles. "Why are they fighting?" he asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "Who knows? They tend to do a lot of that."

---

Once things clamed down between the two hedgehogs, Tails walked over to Knuckles to ask him why he came over.

"So, Knuckles was there something you wanted me to help you with?" he asked.

"Well, I was wondering Tails, if there was anyway you could see who Justin's real parents are. I know we look alike and all, but it just seems weird that he's calling me his dad," Knuckles explained.

"Right, well I do have this machine that can match DNA. We could use that and see if your DNA matches with his," Tails said.

Knuckles nodded and Tails pushed a red button on the wall and a computer came down from the ceiling equipped with a scanner. Tails walked over to it and started up the system. Knuckles called Justin over.

"Justin, Tails is going to try and find out who your parents are. All he needs you to do is… What does he need to do?" Knuckles asked, looking up at Tails.

"All I need you to do is place your hand here," Tails pointed to a scanner, "and the machine will do the rest," he said.

Justin looked down at his hand. "Will it hurt?"

Tails shook his head. "It shouldn't. It may tickle, but definitely not hurt."

Justin walked over to Tails and the computer. He placed his hand on the scanner and Tails pushed a blue button. Knuckles and the rest gathered around the computer. A green light slowly crossed Justin's hand. Soon data began appearing on the screen. Tails did some typing before turning back to the group.

"Knuckles, now you need to place your hand there so we can see if it matches or not," Tails told him.

Knuckles placed his hand on the scanner as well. Data appeared on the screen for him as well. Tails turned back to the computer to try and figure things out.

"Now, just give me a few seconds and I'll have the results," he told everyone.

Amy went into the small kitchen that was attached to Tails' workshop and came back out a while later holding a tray with some cups on them. She handed out tea to everyone and they all found a place to sit and wait for Tails to analyze the data.

---

"Woah," Tails said in a voice that was almost a whisper.

"What is it little buddy?" Sonic asked.

Instead of answering Sonic, Tails looked over at Rouge.

"Rouge? Could I get you to place your hand on the scanner as well?" he asked.

Rouge walked over and placed her hand on the scanner and more data appeared on the screen. Tails typed some more into the keyboard and studied the computer screen closely.

"I-I was right," Tails muttered.

"Right about what?" Knuckles asked.

Tails turned back to everyone, but really was only looking at Knuckles and Rouge.

"Knuckles, Justin really is your son," he told him.

"But I-!"

Tails interrupted. "I know. That's where it begins to get strange. He is your son, but he's from the future. Yours and his DNA matches perfectly. His DNA also matched Rouge's a bit as well."

"Wait, wait, wait. So you're saying that in the future, Justin is my son? And you said that his and Rouge's DNA matches too so does that mean…?" he trailed off as he looked over at Rouge.

Tails nodded. "You're correct Knuckles. In the future, you and Rouge are married and Justin is your son," he explained.

"Hah! That is too funny!" Sonic exclaimed, starting to laugh. "You mean to say that old knucklehead here actually marries? To Rouge of all people? That's too hysterical!"

"And what's so bad about it Sonic?" Rouge asked. "I wouldn't be laughing so hard. I bet that in the future you and Amy get together."

"Pft. Like that'll ever happen," Sonic said, waving her comment off.

Justin, who had been quiet ever since Sonic and Shadow had stopped fighting finally, looked over at Knuckles.

"So you really are my Daddy?' he asked.

"If what Tails says is true then, yes I am," Knuckles replied.

Amy then spoke up. "But Tails, if Justin is Knuckles and Rouge's future son, how'd he come back to the past?" she asked.

Knuckles looked down at Justin. "How did you?"

"I don't know. I just remember waking up in the middle of that scary place I found you in," he said.

Knuckles squatted down in front of Justin. "You don't remember anything, anything at all, before that?" he asked.

Justin looked up at the ceiling and then looked back down at Knuckles and shook his head. Knuckles sighed.

"Hey, wait a minute, there's something weird going on," Tails spoke up. He was studying the computer again. "It shows here that Justin's molecular structure is slowly disappearing." Tails then gasped. "If he doesn't get back to his right time frame, he'll disappear."

"Meaning?" Knuckles was confused.

"If we don't get him back to the future, you and Rouge will never see him again. Even in the future," Tails answered, glancing between Knuckles and Rouge.

"So, you're saying he'll just disappear and we'll never see him again?" Rouge asked.

Tails nodded. Knuckles was looking down at the floor. He looked up at Tails after much thinking.

"Tails, do you think you could build some sort of time machine to send him back?" Knuckles asked.

Justin spun around to Knuckles. "No! I don't want to leave you Daddy!" he yelled.

"But if you don't go back, Rouge and I will never see you again. I know you don't understand, but just trust me," Knuckles said.

Justin nodded and fell silent once more. Tails had been thinking about how to make the machine.

"Let's see, first I'll have to know what year he came from and I'll need a couple of Chaos Emeralds to power the machine. But I think I can have it built before three weeks is over," Tails muttered, more to himself then anyone. "If we all pitch in to help, we should get it done pretty quickly," he said.

"Okay, then let's get to work," Knuckles said.

"Right. I still need to do a bit more studying to find out where we should send him back too. That'll probably take about three days. I'll call you over, Knuckles, when I find out. For now, you can go home," Tails told him.

"Okay. Come on Justin," Knuckles said.

He got off the couch and slumped towards the door. Justin waved at everyone before he followed Knuckles. As Knuckles slowly made his way home, he thought about what Tails had told him. Justin actually being his son was the last thing he was expecting. He was still a bit puzzled by how Justin came back into the past and how it was such a coincidence that Justin happened to find Knuckles.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Justin asked, noticing the sad look on Knuckles face.

"I'm fine. Just a bit shocked by all the news today," he replied.

"Is what Tails said back there true? I'm from the future?" Justin asked.

Knuckles only nodded his head in response. Justin grinned real big. He began jumping up and down.

"Does that mean I have superpowers?" he asked.

Knuckles chuckled. "I have no idea. Maybe in time you'll be able to levitate things and have super strength," he said.

"Yeah, yeah! And be able to melt things like people do in cartoons!" Justin exclaimed. "And maybe even have magic powers!"

Knuckles laughed a bit about how excited Justin was getting about being from the future. As Justin continued rambling on about having super powers, Knuckles' smile slowly faded away. If what Tails said had been true, then Justin would only be able to stay with Knuckles for three more weeks. Knuckles had only known Justin for two days or so, but he already felt himself beginning to bond with the young echidna. What happens if in three weeks, Knuckles isn't ready to let Justin go back? Would Tails force him to let Justin go? Only time could tell.

**Aw, Knuckles feels himself growing closer to Justin. Well, I'm off to a Harry Potter party for the 7****th**** book. I should update pretty quickly because I have ideas and twists. Review please! Peace out!**


	4. Bonding Time

**Okay, I know this is a very short chapter and it will be the shortest chapter in this story by far. I just had this idea which was too cute to ignore. I was actually crying while I wrote it. **

Chapter 4

Night had fallen on Angel Island once more. Knuckles had put Justin to bed and was now outside laying in the grass looking up at the stars. He had been reflecting the events from today. Knuckles was still finding it hard to believe that Justin was really his and Rouge's future son.

What Knuckles was really wondering was how Justin came back from the future. He imagined what it would have been like to all of a sudden end up in some place you have never been before. There was no wonder why Justin had been holding on so tightly to Knuckles' hand that night. He must have been so scared.

Knuckles' trail of thoughts was broken as he heard the front door open and close. Knuckles turned his head around and saw Justin walking up to him.

"Hey, what are you doing up? I thought you went to sleep," Knuckles said.

"I woke up to go to the bathroom amd I saw you out the window. What are you doing?" Justin asked.

Knuckles looked back up at the stars. "Just stargazing," he replied.

"Can I stay up with you?" Justin asked.

"Sure. If you want," Knuckles told him.

Justin smiled and sat down in the grass next to Knuckles. For a while, the two sat in silence enjoying the warm weather and gentle night breeze. Lighting bugs were out and about and there glows lit up the sky as well as the many stars that were out and the full moon. Crickets were singing in the background and the crunching of leaves could be heard from night prowlers out for their meal.

Later on, Justin copied Knuckles by lying down in the grass. He scooted closer to Knuckles and wrapped his arms around him. Knuckles smiled as he did this and wrapped one arm around Justin as well.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"When do I have to go back to the future?" Justin asked.

"I'm not certain, but Tails said before three weeks are up," Knuckles replied.

"That's not very long," Justin murmured.

"No, it's not."

Justin looked up at Knuckles. "Will you miss me?" he asked.

Knuckles returned his gaze. "Of course I'll miss you. You're my son aren't you?" he said, ruffling Justin's head. Justin giggled and Knuckles laughed as well.

After it had been quiet for a little bit longer Justin spoke up again. "Will you still love me?" he asked.

Knuckles stared back down at him. When Knuckles didn't say anything, Justin rubbed his face into Knuckles' chest and whispered, "I'll still love you." He looked up at him. "Will you?" he asked again.

"'Course I will," Knuckles finally answered.

"How long will I have to wait to see you again Daddy?" Justin asked.

"I don't know. It won't be that long though," Knuckles replied.

"You promise?" he asked him.

Knuckles looked into his beautiful blue eyes, smiled and whispered, "I promise."

Justin smiled back and looked back up at the sky. Knuckles continued to stare at his mini-self. He wondered why Justin was asking all these questions. Was he scared he'd never see Knuckles again or did he just want reassurance that his father would still love him in the future?

Hours passed and Knuckles and Justin continued lying in the grass with each other and watching the stars. Knuckles knew that he was growing closer to Justin and that a bond was developing between them. Whenever he saw Justin smile, a feeling came over Knuckles that he had never felt before. It welled up inside him and made him feel so happy he wanted to laugh for no reason. Knuckles had never felt so happy in his life. He felt like he was floating in midair without any wings. He wondered if this was how his father had always felt when Knuckles and his father spent time together.

At the thought of his dad, Knuckles looked up at the stars and wondered what his dad was doing up in heaven right now. Were he and Knuckles' mother looking down on him right now? Had they seen Knuckles take Justin in and spend so much time with him? Were they proud of him?

_"I wish you were here right now dad. I really miss you and mom. I wish you could see how happy I am. I hope you've noticed that I'm doing everything with Justin that you and I did together. I wish I could see your faces again. I wasn't ready to say goodbye when I had too and now I wish I could only here you say you love me again and hold me in your arms. I hope you and mom are proud of who I've become. I'll always love you guys," _Knuckles thought.

Tears were tickling Knuckles' eyes. Using the hand that wasn't wrapped around Justin, Knuckles wiped the tears away from his eyes. The more time Knuckles spent with Justin, the more Knuckles remembered the times he and his dad had together and he missed him more and more. Knuckles just hoped he was being a good father for Justin and was a good one in the future. He glanced down at the small echidna curled up next to Knuckles and smiled. Justin had fallen back asleep.

Slowly, Knuckles lifted him into his arms and walked back into the house. Knuckles walked into his bedroom and laid Justin back down on the bed. In all the movement, Justin had woken up a bit. Knuckles covered him back up and Justin smiled at Knuckles.

"Goodnight Daddy," he whispered, a yawn following quickly after.

Knuckles smiled again. "'Night kiddo," he said.

Knuckles walked to the doorway and stopped again. He turned back around and studied the little lump in the bed. Knuckles had to hold in a chuckle at how Justin looked in the huge bed. Knuckles turned off the light and shut the door. As he headed back to the main room, his thoughts came back to him.

_"I wish you could see me now dad. You'd be very proud."_

**I promise the next chapter will be much longer. Anyways please review!**


	5. All I Want to Do is Play

**Hah! Told you the next chapter would be much longer! Anyways, I really wanted to get this chapter up because I'm leaving for another vacation Thursday and I'll be there until next Sunday. Then, once I get home from vacation I start school the very next day. Fun! So, I'll probably be delayed on my next update, but I will get it up before the month ends. Enough with my boring life, on with the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: See chapter 2.**

Chapter 5

The next morning came, dragging along rain and gloomy weather for a 10 mile radius. The rain had caused what had been an unusual warm autumn turn cold all of a sudden. Justin was looking out the window in the direction of the beach. The usual smile that was on his face had been taken over by a frown and for once since he found Knuckles he was bored. He wished he could go outside and play. He hated being shut indoors; he felt as though he was trapped with nowhere to go.

Knuckles entered the bedroom and Justin turned to him.

"What's with the long face?" Knuckles asked.

"I want to go outside, but the stupid rain has to have its chance first," Justin grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest.

Knuckles stared at Justin as he mirrored Knuckles' annoyed expression perfectly. Justin looked up at Knuckles.

"Daddy can you make the rain stop?" he asked.

"Can I what?"

"Make the rain stop," he repeated. "I see people on TV do it all the time."

Knuckles chuckled. "Justin, everything on TV isn't real. Actually most of the shows shown on there are made up. The Weather Channel is one of the few channels that tell the truth," he explained. "Well at least they try…" he added.

"That stinks," Justin pouted.

"Hey cheer up. If you want we can go visit Rouge. She has a huge house where you can play until the rain stops. How about that?" Knuckles said.

Justin smiled a bit. "Okay," he said.

Knuckles picked up an umbrella from his closet and the two left the house for the train station. When they sat down on the train, Justin crawled into Knuckles' lap again and wouldn't look at anyone else riding the train. From outside the train, the rain looked like streaks of white zooming past the grey sky. As the train came to a stop, the rain fell vertically again and had slowed down into a drizzle.

Knuckles and Justin got off the train and walked through the train station. Justin was holding Knuckles' hand again and kept glancing all around him. As they were heading up an escalator, Justin asked Knuckles something he had just thought of.

"Daddy, why doesn't Mommy live with us? All the other Mommys and Daddys live together. Why not us?" he asked.

Knuckles replied as they got off the escalator.

"Well, Rouge and I aren't married. Remember, you came from the future so everything you remember most likely hasn't happened yet. That's why we don't live together. We haven't gotten together yet and are still living our separate lives."

"When will you marry her?" Justin asked.

"I have no idea. I haven't even thought about things like that yet," Knuckles said.

The two exited the train station and Knuckles put the umbrella back up. Knuckles led Justin through the big city, making sure he didn't lose him. The rain had made the air temperature cooler now and Knuckles wanted to hurry and get to Rouge's.

Finally Knuckles turned down Rouge's street and walked up to her house. Justin's pupils grew at the size of the house. It was a huge two story house. The outside was white with a dark green tiled roof. Even though Justin couldn't see it at the time, there was a balcony in the back of the house coming from Rouge's bedroom.

"Wow. Mommy lives _here_?!" Justin seemed amazed.

Knuckles let Justin admire the house some more as he ran the doorbell. Footsteps were heard inside and clicking as the lock was fumbled with. A minute later, Rouge had opened the door.

"Hey, mind if we come over? Justin got bored at my house," Knuckles told her.

"No not at all. Come on in," Rouge said.

Justin hugged Rouge as he walked inside. "I like your house Mommy! It's big!" he exclaimed.

Rouge laughed. "Wait 'till you see the rest of it."

Justin's eyes widened even more if that was possible. With that, he took off running through the house. In the main room was a plasma screen TV, a couch, coffee table, a PS3 and a huge window looking out onto the back porch with a sliding glass door. Justin ran up to the door and looked outside. There was an in-ground pool in the back yard complete with a diving board.

Justin hadn't gone down to the basement yet, but down there was yet another big screen TV, pool table and there was even a mini bar. Justin ran back over to Knuckles and Rouge who were now just entering the main room.

"I love your house Mommy! Can Daddy and I live here too?" he asked, jumping up and down.

"Justin," Knuckles said quickly. "You can't just invite yourself to live in someone else's house. It's, well, rude."

"But it's such a cool house!" Justin whined.

"Well I'll think about it, how about that?" Rouge asked.

Justin smiled and nodded his head in agreement. Rouge went into the kitchen to make lunch for all them. Justin was watching TV and Knuckles was sitting on the couch watching whatever Justin was. Rouge walked into the room with some sandwiches and drinks.

Later on after lunch, the rain had finally subsided, although there were still a few dark grey clouds in the air. Knuckles figured an even bigger storm was going to come soon, but it probably wouldn't arrive until late at night. Once the rain had cleared, Justin had insisted on going outside to play. Knuckles tried to keep him inside arguing that everything was still muddy and wet, but Justin was persistent.

"C'mon Daddy I've been inside all day! Please can I go outside and play? Please?" he begged, jumping up and down in front of him.

"Fine. Just don't get too muddy or else Rouge will kill you if it gets in her house," Knuckles said.

Justin cocked his head slightly at this. "Why will she be mad? It's just a little mud."

Knuckles looked behind him to make sure Rouge wasn't around before replying, "Because Rouge a freak like that."

Unfortunately for Knuckles, Rouge had just walked in as he said that. She walked up behind Knuckles and stood behind him. Knuckles felt a presence and flinched.

"She's right behind me isn't she?" he asked Justin.

Justin nodded and giggled. Knuckles slowly craned his head around and saw the bat looming over him. He gave a nervous grin.

"Oh Rouge! Fancy seeing you here," he said.

"Knuckles, I live here," Rouge sighed. "Now, what did you just say about me?" she asked.

"Uh… uh…" his eyes darted around the room quickly. "I-I… What makes you think I said anything about you?" he finally said.

Rouge sighed and rolled her eyes. "Because I just heard your voice using the word 'Rouge' and 'freak' in the same sentence. Now, once again, what did you say?" she asked.

"He said that you were a freak," Justin said.

Knuckles glared at Justin. "What was that for?!"

"Hee-hee, sorry Daddy," Justin said, giggling and smiling at him.

"I'm a freak huh?" Rouge asked. "Any particular reason why?"

Knuckles sighed. "All I said was that I told Justin not to get muddy outside because if he got mud in your house I know you'd freak," explained in one breath. He shut his eyes afterwards. "Go ahead and hit me."

"What makes you think I'd get mad about Justin getting mud in my house?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles opened one eye. "Because you yelled at me when I knocked over a cup of water on your kitchen counter," he said, shutting it again. "Now just hit me and get it over with," he muttered.

Rouge laughed a little before gently taking Knuckles chin in her hand. Knuckles opened his eyes as he felt her breath on his face.

"You're so cute," she whispered. Knuckles blushed as she gave him a kiss on his lips. Knuckles' heart was beating ten-fold and he felt like he could melt any second. He was just about to relax when a fit full of giggles broke the silence. Rouge pulled away from Knuckles and they both looked down at the floor. Justin was rolling on the floor giggling.

"Hee-hee! Mommy just kissed Daddy! Hee-hee! I saw Mommy kissing Daddy!" he said, still in his fit of laughter.

It was now Rouge's turn to blush. She had forgotten Justin was standing there when she had kissed Knuckles and now she couldn't help but be bit embarrassed. Knuckles saw Rouge blushing and knelt down beside the giggling echidna.

"Justin, didn't you want to go outside?" he asked.

Justin immediately stopped laughing and looked at Knuckles.

"Oh! Right! Can I Daddy?" he asked.

"Sure go on ahead," Knuckles replied.

Justin smiled, before running out the back door. Knuckles could hear him singing about he and Rouge kissing from outside. He rolled his eyes as he stood back up.

"Sorry about that Knuckles… I forgot he was standing there," Rouge muttered glancing down at her feet.

Knuckles smiled. "Ah don't worry about it," he told her. "Anyways, I'm sorry I called you a freak. But… you did kind of overreact when I spilled that glass off water," he said.

Rouge looked at him and smiled back. "I guess I did," she said.

Both of them could now perfectly hear Justin singing outside about Knuckles and Rouge.

"Mommy and Daddy, lying in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" he sang before breaking into laughter again.

Knuckles sighed before looking back at Rouge. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go teach him a lesson about making fun of people," he said. "That, or at least teach how to sing that song correctly," he mumbled under his breath as he walked out the door as well.

Once the door slammed shut, Rouge could hear a yell that came from Knuckles and then a laugh from Justin. She walked over to the window and watched as Knuckles chased Justin around the backyard yelling at him it was 'sitting in a tree' rather then 'lying in a tree'. Rouge smiled when Justin squealed as Knuckles picked him up and began to ruffle his dreadlocks. Justin slid out of Knuckles' arms and then jumped on Knuckles, tackling him to the ground. They landed in a pile of leaves with Justin sitting on top of Knuckles' stomach. Rouge could hear them both laughing and giggling at one another and the sound of leaves crunching as Justin threw a pile of leaves on top of Knuckles.

Outside, Justin had just picked up another handful of leaves and threw then on top of Knuckles. He giggled at Knuckles' new hairdo. Many leaves were sticking out from his dreadlocks and to Justin, he looked hilarious.

"I got you Daddy," he said, looking down at him.

"You sure did kiddo," Knuckles replied, staring up at his mini self.

Justin smiled before lying down on top of Knuckles so he was closer to his face. Knuckles smirked before picking up a handful of leaves and piling them on top of Justin's head. Justin laughed and shook his head to get the leaves off.

"Daddy! That's not fair!" Justin complained although there was a smile on his face stretching from one side to another.

"Really? I think it's plenty fair after you did that to me five times," Knuckles said.

"I didn't do it five times," Justin said.

"Oh yes you did. Don't think the victim wouldn't know," Knuckles replied. "Now, admit you did it five times," he said as he tickled Justin.

Justin squealed before laughing. Knuckles smiled and continued to tickle Justin.

"Okay! Hee-hee. Okay Daddy! I did do it five times! Hee-hee! Stop!" Justin yelled in between laughs.

"Oh alright," Knuckles grumbled pretending to pout. He sat up making Justin slide off his stomach and crossed his arms. "Ruin my fun."

Justin giggled before jumping on Knuckles again, taking him back down to the ground. Knuckles frown quickly turned upside down as Justin wrapped his small arms around Knuckles neck.

"Hey Daddy? We're pals right?" he asked, looking up at Knuckles.

Knuckles let out a chuckle before replying, "You bet we are."

"Will we be able to do this in the future?" Justin asked.

"Sure. Whenever you want," Knuckles said. He put his mouth to Justin's ear. "And maybe we'll be able to drag your mother out here a couple times," he whispered.

"Okay!"

From all the fun the two were having, none had noticed how dark the sky had become. They both hadn't noticed until there was a very low rumbled of thunder. Justin and Knuckles both looked up at the sky just as it began to drizzle again. Knuckles looked at Justin.

"Uh-oh, looks like the rain has come back for a second round. Guess we should get inside," Knuckles said.

"Awwwwwww! But Daddy, I still want to play outside with you!" Justin whined.

"Maybe we can still play a bit once we get inside. How about that?" Knuckles said.

"Okay," Justin replied.

"Now let's get inside before we get sick."

Knuckles stood up and he and Justin walked into the house. They walked back into the living room where Rouge had already gotten out a couple of blankets for them and some hot chocolate.

Justin and Knuckles sat down on the small couch while Rouge sat on a chair next to them. As they drank their hot chocolate, the rain picked up and the sky darkened. The thunder became louder and lightning began to flash in a pattern. There was a loud crack of thunder and Justin whimpered and scooted closer to Knuckles.

"I don't like that loud boom," he muttered.

Knuckles smiled down at him and wrapped his arm around him.

"Just don't think about it. Hey, how about we all play a game to pass the storm by?" he asked.

Justin perked up a bit. "Okay! Like what?"

"Let's let Rouge choose since you already got to play outside like you wanted," Knuckles said.

So, throughout the afternoon, Knuckles, Justin and Rouge played various games from board games to hide-and-go-seek. Finally 9:00 came around and Justin had fallen asleep on the couch. Knuckles carried him upstairs to one of Rouge's guest bedrooms. He tucked him in and then went back downstairs to where Rouge was watching TV.

Knuckles walked over to the sliding glass doors and watched the storm from inside. He and Rouge stayed up a bit longer watching TV and chatting. Rouge headed upstairs at 11:00 and Knuckles followed her up five minutes later. He climbed into the second guest bedroom bed and shut his eyes.

---

Lightning filled the room again and Knuckles turned over in the bed. He looked at the clock and saw it was only 11:30. The storm going on outside had not given him once chance to try and sleep. When the rumble of thunder deadened, Knuckles strained his ears to hear if anyone else was awake. As far as he could tell the room across and next to his were silent meaning Rouge and Justin were probably asleep.

Thunder clashed again as the room lit up once more. Knuckles grumbled. He usually enjoyed thunderstorms while lying in bed, but now he wished it would just end. After all, it had pretty much been going on all day long. Knuckles sighed and turned on his back and stared up at the ceiling fan, watching it go round and round. Knuckles' eyelids eventually began to droop and soon he had finally fallen asleep.

---

A loud crack of thunder sounded and Knuckles' eyes shot open. He looked over at the clock and saw it was now 12:30. He had only been asleep for an hour. Another loud crack of thunder echoed through the sky and after it went away. Knuckles could faintly hear sobs coming from the room next door.

Knuckles got out of bed and walked into the room Justin was in. When the lightning flashed, Knuckles saw a small lump under the covers which was shaking. Knuckles walked over to Justin.

"Justin? Are you okay?" Knuckles whispered.

Justin poked his head out from under the covers. "The storm is scaring me Daddy," he said.

Knuckles sat down on the bed next to him and turned the lamp on that was beside the bed. He looked over at Justin.

"Justin, there's no reason to be afraid of storms. They can't hurt you while you're inside," Knuckles said.

"The loud booms are what scare me. They remind me of the loud bang in that dream I had," Justin said crawling over to Knuckles.

A loud crack of thunder went off and Justin screamed and grabbed Knuckles.

"Daddy I'm scared," Justin cried.

"Justin listen. I know that thunder is loud sometimes and comes unexpectedly, but you've got to learn to just ignore it. Thunder can't hurt you; even when you are outside," Knuckles explained.

"What is thunder?" Justin asked.

"Uh, well… people say it's many things. Some people think it's angels up in heaven bowling, I've also hear people say it's all the spirits laughing. I think it's really just when the cold air clashes with warm air or something like that. I don't know… I never went to school," Knuckles muttered the last part.

"It's still scary," Justin murmured.

"Don't feel bad. I bet every kid is scared of thunder. I bet there are even some adults who still jump when there's a loud crack of thunder. I know I've jumped several times myself," Knuckles said.

Justin smiled and looked up at Knuckles. "You're scared of thunder?"

"Well, I wouldn't say scared just startled most of the time," Knuckles said.

"I think you're scared, Daddy," Justin said slyly.

"Well think whatever you want to think, but you want to know what I think?" Knuckles asked.

"What?"

"I think it's time for a certain somebody to get back to bed," he replied.

"You?" Justin asked, trying to be serious, but he couldn't get the smile off his face.

"Yes, he needs to also, but the person I'm thinking of is much smaller," Knuckles said beginning to smile. He remembered his dad would always do this to him.

Justin looked liked he was thinking real hard, but the smile was still on his face.

"Give me a hint," he said.

"He's red, has a small white crescent on his chest and looks exactly like me, but has his mother's eyes," Knuckles listed.

"My imaginary friend?" Justin asked.

Even Knuckles had to laugh at this. "No it's YOU!" Knuckles said. He picked up Justin and then began to tickle him. "You're the one who needs to get back to bed silly," he said, still tickling the small echidna.

"Daddy stop it! Daddy!" Justin said in the middle of a laughing fit. Knuckles gave Justin his salvation and stopped tickling him.

Knuckles looked down at Justin. "Think you can go back to sleep now?" he asked.

"I guess," Justin replied. "But can you stay in here with me? Just in case?" he asked.

Knuckles smiled. "Sure."

Justin scooted over to the far side of the queen-size bed and smiled and Knuckles.

"Oh, you want me to stay for good," Knuckles said, finally picking up on why Justin was on the far side of the bed.

Knuckles climbed into the bed and turned off the lamp. Justin scooted over to Knuckles and cuddled up against him as another crack of thunder came. Justin grabbed Knuckles' hand before closing his eyes.

"Goodnight Daddy," he whispered after he finished a huge yawn.

"Goodnight," Knuckles replied.

He closed his eyes and was happy to be able to get back to sleep without even trying. The rest of the storm passed without waking Justin up again and the rest of the night went by like any perfect day should end.

**Hopefully this chapter will be long enough to satisfy your needs until school gets out of the way enough so I can update. Blame school! Oh yeah and I'm also Luv4Knux now, not KnuxnDeppfan4life. LONG LIVE KNUCKLES!! **


	6. Chaos Emerald Search

Chapter 6

"Knuckles, wake up," a voice said. When there was no reply, the voice got louder. "Knucklehead get your butt out of bed!"

Knuckles opened his eyes and saw Rouge standing in front of him.

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"Well one, it's noon and you really should wake up and two because Tails called with news on Justin and the whole future thing," Rouge explained, handing him the phone.

"Oh, thanks," Knuckles replied, taking the phone from her and sitting up. "Hello?"

"Hey Knuckles. I found out what time frame Justin's from and we should start looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Can you, Rouge and Justin come over here please?" Tails asked.

"Sure Tails. We'll be over there in half an hour," Knuckles said.

"'Kay, see ya."

Knuckles pushed the off button on the phone and handed the phone back to Rouge.

"Tails said he needs us to come over to start looking for the emeralds. He found out where Justin came from as well," Knuckles told her.

"Okay then, let's go!" Rouge said.

"Can't I have something to eat?"

"It's your fault for not getting up earlier," Rouge said, halfway down the stairs.

Knuckles grumbled something under his breath as he followed Rouge downstairs. Justin greeted him with a wave then went back to watching cartoons. Knuckles told him they were going over to Tails' and Justin ran to the door. Knuckles grabbed a loaf of bread on the way out.

"What's with the loaf of bread?" Rouge asked.

"It's my breakfast since someone wasn't nice enough to make me one," Knuckles answered.

"Oh suck it up," Rouge mumbled under her breath.

Knuckles smirked before sucking up a piece of bread almost like a vacuum cleaner. Justin listened to their conversation and giggled at certain things he thought were funny.

Finally, after much goofing off, Knuckles, Rouge and Justin arrived at Tails' house. Everyone else was already there.

"Okay Tails, so what did you figure out?" Knuckles asked him.

"Well, Justin is definitely from the future seeing as he came from the year 2016. So, now that we know that, all we have to do is find the Chaos Emeralds and I have to build the time machine," Tails explained.

"Okay. Sounds easy enough. Are we going to spilt up in groups or anything?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, I did a bit of research and one is in a cave in a mountain, a couple are in a jewelry store, two are at Eggman's base and one's in a museum," Tails said.

"Where's the last?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know. For some reason it isn't appearing anywhere near here. I'll check that out while you guys go search so I can get to work on the machine," Tails said. "I think it'd be wise for all of us to g to Eggman's base together seeing as he has two emeralds," Tails finished

"Okay then. So who's in what group?" Sonic asked.

"Well, you and Shadow will go with Amy, Knuckles and Rouge can take Justin and I've asked Silver and Blaze to help too. They should already be searching the mountains," Tails explained.

"We've got dibs on the jewelry store!" Rouge hollered.

"Okay, okay, we'll go check the museum," Sonic sighed rolling his eyes.

"Great! See ya!" Rouge said quickly before rushing out the door.

Everyone sweat dropped except Justin who had no clue why Rouge got so hyper suddenly. Tails walked up to Knuckles.

"Here, give this communicator to Rouge once you catch up to her. Knowing her she's already there," Tails said.

"Will do Tails," Knuckles nodded.

Knuckles put his communicator around his wrist and he and Justin headed towards Station Square as Sonic, Shadow and Amy Chaos Controlled to the museum. When Knuckles and Justin arrived at the jewelry store, they walked in to see Rouge admiring some necklace in a case. Knuckles sighed and walked up to her.

"I think you're forgetting the whole point of this visit," Knuckles told her.

Rouge turned around and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry. Old habits die hard," she said.

"Sure," Knuckles huffed. "Here, put this on." He handed Rouge the communicator.

Justin tugged on Knuckles' hand. "Daddy? What are Caz Emeralds?" he asked.

Knuckles let out a chuckle. "First of all, they're called Chaos Emeralds and they're big jewels that contain a lot of power. If we get all seven of them, it'll be much easier to send you back to where you came from," Knuckles explained.

"They're really beautiful too," Rouge added, stars in her eyes.

"Yeah, that's why she goes crazy every time you mention the word jewel," Knuckles said.

"Are they as big as the green one you own?" Justin asked.

"Not quite. Compared to the Master Emerald, Chaos Emeralds are much, much smaller," Knuckles told him.

"Then what's the Master Emerald do?"

Knuckles sighed. "I'll tell you later okay? It's kinda hard to explain. Besides, we need to get that emerald."

"I'll go ask!" Rouge exclaimed.

"No, _I'll_ go ask. Knowing you, you'd ask for the emerald and a couple of necklaces as well," Knuckles said.

Rouge frowned at him as Knuckles walked up to the counter. Justin decided to stay with Rouge this time. They waited a couple of minutes until Knuckles walked back over with a velvet purple box. He grinned as he approached Rouge.

"Got it," he said.

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Justin yelled.

Knuckles knelt down and opened the box to reveal the silver emerald sitting on a cushion. Justin stared at the jewel before him almost hypnotized by its beauty.

"Wow," he mumbled. "You're right Mommy, they are pretty!"

Knuckles closed the box and tucked it away. "Well, that's one down. I hope the others have found theirs. Knowing Eggman, he's probably building some new machine with those emeralds he has," he said, more to himself then anyone.

"How many do we have to find?" Justin asked.

"Seven, but now that we have one we only need six," Knuckles replied. "Come on; let's head back to Tails'."

After dragging Rouge out of the store, the three began making their way back. As they were heading back, Knuckles began to hear a strange buzzing noise. He looked around him trying to find what was causing the noise. Rouge noticed him looking around.

"Knuckles, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Do you hear a strange noise?" he asked her instead of answering her.

Rouge twitched her ears to try and pick up the sound. She gulped as she realized what the noise was. She knew that noise all too well.

"It's Eggman's hover car," she replied.

"You are correct my dear Rouge," a voice that was neither Knuckles' nor Justin's answered.

Rouge, Knuckles and Justin turned around to see Eggman floating above them. Knuckles let out a low growl knowing Eggman must want something if he came to hunt them down.

"What do you want?" he asked in a deep voice.

"I hear that you and your pals are searching for the emeralds again. Being as curious as I always am, may I ask what for?" Eggman asked.

"You can ask as many times as you want, but I won't tell you," Knuckles answered.

"Fine be that way," Eggman snorted. "Anyways, it's not like you'll be able to get them all."

"And why's that?" Rouge snapped.

Eggman grinned. "Because," he said, "I have three."

Knuckles and Rouge's eyes grew wide. "Y-You have three of them?" Rouge asked.

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Give them to us," Knuckles demanded.

"And what in your crazed mind makes you think I would do such a thing like that?" Eggman asked.

"Because if you know what's good for you, you will do it," Knuckles told him.

"But before I do that, I have one question," Eggman said.

"What's that?"  
"Who is your new alliance?" Eggman asked, pointing at Justin.

Justin let out a small gasp and hid behind Knuckles. He didn't like this man. He could tell he was evil. Knuckles let out another growl.

"That's none of your concern Eggman!" Knuckles yelled at him.

"Fine. If you won't tell me. Maybe he himself will," Eggman stared down at Justin.

"Justin, don't do it," Knuckles whispered down at him.

"But, Daddy, if I don't he might do something," Justin said back.

"Wait a minute, did he just call you 'Daddy'? Knuckles is a father?" Eggman asked himself. A big smile grew on his face and soon he was cracking up. "And let me guess… Rouge is the mother?" Rouge let out a growl.

Eggman calmed down before he looked back down at the three of them.

"Okay, here's the deal Knuckles," Eggman said. "Either you hand over that emerald I know you have or I'll have to take your family prisoner."

"You're not taking, Justin, Rouge or this emerald. Unless you're willing to fight me," Knuckles challenged.

"Knuckles-!" Rouge started.

"Quiet. Take Justin and go back to Tails' now," Knuckles ordered without taking his eyes off Eggman.

Rouge grabbed Justin's hand and began running back to Tails' house. Eggman only grinned.

"Sending your family to safety to risk your life. My, my Knuckles, I have to admit you're very dedicated to protecting your family, but they can't get away," Eggman said.

"And why not?" Knuckles asked, his eyes narrowing.

Eggman's hover car grew a tranquilizer gun and aimed it at Knuckles. He gasped and tried to dodge the needle it sent out, but he was too slow. The needle embedded itself into Knuckles' arm. Knuckles gave a grunt in pain as he felt his energy begin to drain out of him.

"Eggman…" Knuckles growled.

Eggman grinned down at him and said, "Oh and don't worry, I promise to take good care of them."

Knuckles fell to the ground and Eggman let out a victorious chuckle. Justin looked over his shoulder and stopped when he saw Knuckles lying motionless on the ground.

"Daddy!" he screamed.

Rouge turned around as well and gasped. Eggman moved up in front of them.

"It's a shame your husband couldn't have protected you any more then he did. Now, if you'll come with me please."

"No," Rouge said.

Eggman sighed. "I really didn't want to resort to this," he mumbled.

He pressed a button in front of him and shot a net out at Rouge and Justin trapping them. Justin began to scream as it lifted them into the air. Rouge began yelling at Eggman.

"Eggman you let us go now!"

"I don't think I will. I want to see just how dedicated knucklehead is to you. Besides, you should know by now that I enjoy doing this," he told her, smiling real big.

The hover car began to fly away leaving Knuckles' body lying in the middle of the sidewalk. Justin looked down at him, tears running down his face. He stuck his hand out through one of the holes in the net as if he was trying to grab Knuckles.

"Daddy! Daddy help me!" he hollered.

Slowly Knuckles' body began to shrink as Eggman flew off. Justin soon could no longer see Knuckles and broke down.

"Daddy no! Come back!" he cried.

Rouge pulled him into a hug to try and comfort him. "Justin calm down it's okay. We'll get out. Knuckles will come and save us. Don't worry," she told him.

Justin hugged Rouge as she looked down at the red dot on the sidewalk.

_"I hope he will at least. If he can find us,"_ she thought.

**Well there's chapter six! Sorry it took awhile. I'm in the second week of school and it's beginning to dish out more homework, plus I have soccer after school every day and blah, blah, blah… Anyways, you wanted it and now you've got it. Please review! Oh yeah and does anyone know of a place I can read the Sonic X Comics on the web? Let me know if you know! I'd like to read them!!!**


	7. Rescued Then Trapped Again

**I own none of the Sonic Characters! Everyone except Justin is owned by SEGA and Sonic Team. Justin is owned by me though! (Hugs him)**

Chapter 7

"Knuckles come in Knuckles," Sonic said into his communicator. "Knuckles? Is there something wrong? Knuckles? Knuckles?!"

All he got as a response was static. Sonic rushed over to Shadow and Amy who had just retrieved the Chaos Emerald.

"Guys, I think something's happened to Knuckles," Sonic told them, "He's not answering his communicator. Do you think he's hurt?"

"I highly doubt it," Shadow said.

"I think we should go check just in case. This could be serious," Sonic said.

"Fine," Shadow sighed.

As they headed out of the museum, Sonic called Tails over his communicator.

"Hey Tails?"

"Yeah?" Tails answered.

"We've retrieved the emerald, but we can't get Knuckles to come in. We're going to go find him and see what's up," Sonic told him.

"Okay. I haven't been able to get through to him as well," Tails replied.

Sonic signed off. Amy had a worried face on. Sonic noticed and walked up to her.

"Amy? You look like something's troubling you. Anything up?" Sonic asked.

"I'm just wondering why Knuckles hasn't answered at all. What if he's seriously hurt?" she told him.

"If he is, I'm sure it's nothing. It takes a lot to bring him down," Sonic said.

"Yeah, but Rouge hasn't called at all either. If something was wrong with Knuckles she would've told us! I think something bad has happened," Amy said.

Sonic thought that over for a moment. His grew wide as he looked at Amy. "You're right Amy. I'll run on ahead. Shadow, go on and take the emerald back to Tails. I'll get over there as soon as I find Knuckles," Sonic said.

"I want to come with you Sonic," Amy said. "You might need help getting Knuckles over to Tails' if he's hurt."

"Okay Amy. Let's go."

Sonic and Amy ran off as Shadow Chaos Controlled back to Tails'. Sonic and Amy were almost to Station Square when they saw a figure of red lying on the ground.

"Knuckles!" Amy gasped as she ran over to him.

Sonic ran up behind her and knelt down beside the unconscious echidna.

"Is he okay?" Amy asked, her voice filled with worry.

Sonic spotted a needle in Knuckles' neck. Sonic slowly pulled it out and held it up for Amy to see.

"He's been shot with a tranquilizer gun. I bet I know by whom," Sonic said.

They stopped talking when they heard a grunt come from Knuckles. Sonic and Amy looked down at him and smiled when they saw him twitch. Knuckles soon opened his eyes and looked up at Sonic.

"Sonic?" he asked in a whisper. "What happened?"

"We were kinda hoping you could tell us that. Apparently you were shot with a tranquilizer, but that's all we know," Sonic told him.

"Knuckles, do you know where Rouge and Justin are?" Amy asked.

Knuckles' eyes widened as everything flooded back to him. He let out a low menacing growl.

"Eggman!" he yelled as he stood up quickly. "Eggman has Rouge and Justin! He took them after knocking me out! I have to go help them," he declared, beginning to walk off.

"Woah wait up Knuckles. We're gonna come with you. Let's go back to Tails' so we can discuss a game plan. It won't take long. It's better to have an idea of what we're doing before barging in on something," Sonic explained.

"Fine, but this better be quick," Knuckles muttered. "Who knows what Eggman could be doing to them."

---

They were being forced down a dark hallway. There were jail cells on both sides and the placed reeked of stale milk and fish. One robot was pushing Rouge down the hallway and another had a gun aimed at her back. She was struggling to break free of the robots, but they continued to hold a strong grip. Justin was being carried by a robot. He was quaking with fear and continuously whimpering.

The robots came to a halt at the end of the hall. One opened up the cell and shoved Rouge into it and the other threw Justin into it. The three robots locked the cell before walking back down the hallway. Rouge ran up to the cell door and yanked on the bars, trying to shake the door off its hinges, but they wouldn't budge. She sighed in defeat and turned back around to face Justin who was crying silently over in the corner.

Rouge walked over to him and sat down next to him. Justin crawled over to her and into her lap, before wrapping his arms around her and hiding his face in her chest.

"I'm scared Mommy," he whispered.

Rouge hugged him back and tried to calm him down. "I know you are, just try and be strong. Knuckles wouldn't want you to be afraid," she said.

'But Daddy isn't here," Justin said. He squeezed Rouge tighter. "What's going to happen to us?" he asked.

Rouge glanced down at him. "I-I don't know, but Knuckles will come help us. I know he will. He has before."

"But, what if this time's different?" Justin asked her. "He got hurt. What if he's not okay?"

"Don't think like that," Rouge told him. "If anyone tries to do anything to you while we're here, they'll have to go through me first," Rouge said, her eyes narrowing to slits. "I have no idea what Eggman is planning this time, but I know it's not good."

Justin only snuggled closer to Rouge and whispered, "Help us Daddy."

---

Back at Tails' house, Knuckles had just finished telling Sonic, Shadow, Amy, Tails, Silver and Blaze about his encounter with Eggman. Everyone could clearly tell that the fact Eggman had taken Justin and Rouge bothered Knuckles. His head was in his hands and he was muttering incoherently; probably cussing himself out. Amy tried cheering Knuckles up.

"C'mon Knuckles, it's not entirely your fault," she said. "You couldn't have done anything to stop him."

"Yes I could have. I could've fought back, but I didn't. You're wrong Amy, it is all my fault," Knuckles replied. "I'm supposed to be a father in the future and as it stands now, I'm turning out to be a pretty bad one!"

"Don't say that Knuckles!" Amy snapped at him. "You will be a good father! You're doing a great job of it right now! Things just happen sometimes that you can't do anything about," she said. "So stop dissing yourself and let's go help them!"

Knuckles only stared up at Amy and blink, surprised from her outburst. Sonic walked up behind Amy.

"She's right man," he said. "I mean, you did all you could. It's not like you just sat back and watched. We've discussed a plan so let's go put it into action."

"You did what you thought was right by trying to send them to safety. Even though they still ended up getting captured, faker's right when he said you tried your best," Shadow added.

"You tried Knuckles," Tails piped up.

Silver and Blaze nodded their heads in agreement to everyone's comments.

Knuckles let everything sink in before letting out a sigh. He knew deep down, that this wasn't his fault and he was ready to let that be the answer.

"You guys are right. I shouldn't put all this pressure on myself. C'mon, let's go. I want to teach that Egghead a lesson he won't forget," he said. "And I swear if he's harmed one hair on their heads I'll make sure that I send him back to where he came from!" Fire burned in Knuckles' eyes as he finished.

A smile flickered across Sonic's face as the old Knuckles returned. The group then set off to Eggman's newest base which was in the mountains. Upon arrival, everyone looked around for some kind of entrance, but couldn't find anything but a keypad.

"Weird," Silver said. "There's a keypad, but no door."

"Great, now how do we get in?" Blaze asked.

Tails thought a moment before turning to Knuckles and asking, "Knuckles, did you give Rouge her communicator?"

Knuckles was already one step ahead of him and speaking into his communicator. "Rouge, Rouge. Can you hear me?"

---

"Rouge? Rouge? Please come in!"

Rouge slowly opened her eyes and looked around her. She could've sworn she just heard Knuckles, but no one was around except Justin who was sound asleep in her lap.

"Rouge! Please answer me!"

Rouge's ears twitched as she heard his voice again. She looked down at her communicator and saw it was blinking rapidly. She almost screamed in joy when she realized he was okay. She carefully took her arms out of Justin's grasp without waking him and raised the communicator to her mouth.

"I'm here! Knuckles is that you?" she asked.

"Rouge! Thank God, you're alright!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Where are you? You're okay aren't you? Has Eggman touched you? Is Justin alright?" he asked very quickly.

Rouge couldn't help but giggle before replying, "Knuckles calm down, we're both fine. Justin's right here perfectly safe. He's asleep right now, but not hurt in any way. Where are you?" she asked.

"We're right outside the base, but we can't find a way in. Do you remember how Eggman took you inside?" Knuckles asked.

"Look on the wall. There should be a keypad somewhere," Rouge told him.

"Yeah we've seen that, but there's no door," Knuckles said.

"There is a door, it's just hidden," she replied.

"Oh. Did you see what the password is?"

"Uh, 3020106 I think," she said.

"Okay." Knuckles turned to Tails. "Tails, go punch in 3020106 in that keypad," he ordered. Tails nodded and ran over to it.

"Okay, we've got the door open," Knuckles said. "Where are you guys located?"

"Once you enter, take the hallway on your left. We're in the last cell on your left," she said. She then fell silent for a moment before speaking up again. "But, be careful Knuckles. I have no idea where Eggman is or what's he planning."

"Okay, I will be. We're going in," with that, he signed off and took off into the building.

Inside, Rouge carefully shook Justin to wake him. When all she got was a moan in response, she lowered her mouth to Justin's ear and whispered, "Justin wake up. Daddy's on his way."

---

Knuckles ran down the dusty hallway. He could hear the noise of everyone's footsteps behind him, but he didn't care. The only thing that was on his mind was getting to Rouge and Justin to ensure they were safe. He screeched to a stop at the end of the hallway and looked over to his left. He smiled when he saw them in front of him, completely unharmed just like Rouge had said.

"Daddy! You're here!" Justin exclaimed, running up to the bars.

Knuckles bent down in front of him and smiled. "Hey they kiddo, ready to get out of here?" he asked.

Justin nodded. "Yep!"

"Okay then, stand back," Knuckles told him.

Justin ran back over to Rouge. Knuckles took hold of two of the bars and began to pry them apart. Slowly, but surely, the bars inched apart until there was a big enough space for both Justin and Rouge to squeeze through. Knuckles hadn't even let go of the bars when Justin ran and jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around Knuckles' neck and gave him one of his biggest hugs.

"Daddy!" he squealed once more. "I knew you'd come get us and guess what else? Guess!" he yelled.

"What?"

"I wasn't scared one bit!"

Knuckles arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh really?" He saw Rouge roll her eyes and Knuckles chuckled. "Looks like your mother begs to differ."

"Well, I wasn't scared _that_ much," he admitted.

Knuckles shook his head and Justin walked over to Sonic to try and get him to believe he wasn't scared. Rouge walked up to Knuckles.

"Thanks for saving us," she said.

"Don't mention it. It's not like I was gonna let Eggman get away with this," Knuckles replied.

Rouge smiled at him and Knuckles smiled back. They spent a moment looking into each other's eyes until Sonic cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.

"I don't really want to ruin the moment, but shouldn't we be going?" he asked.

Knuckles and Rouge blushed as they turned back towards the group.

"Right, let's go!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"The only place you all will be going is to fill up all these cells," a voice said.

Everyone turned around to find Eggman floating in front of them in his Hover Car with over three dozen robots behind him. He had a wide grin on his face as he stared at the group.

"No, you all won't be going anywhere. My robots will make sure of that."

**Gasp! Cliffy! Knuckles is reunited with Justin and Rouge, but now they have to defeat Eggman before they can leave! Oooh, big fight scene next chapter! This chapter was posted sooner then expected thanks to my Study Hall period. I had no homework amazingly today so I had the whole period to write. Now I have to go study for two quizzes I have tomorrow… Ick, stupid school.**


	8. What Friends Do

**For disclaimer, see previous chapters.**

Chapter 8

"No, you all won't be going anywhere. My robots will make sure of that," Eggman said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Eggman!" Knuckles said, already in a fighting position.

"Well, I see you've brought along all your little friends just to rescue your wife and son," he sneered.

This earned a growl from Knuckles. Sonic stepped forwards, while Knuckles and Eggman were busy staring each other down.

"Yeah, we just decided to tag along in case our good little buddy here needed some extra assistance," Sonic said. "Besides, you've got something of ours we want back."

Eggman tore his gaze off Knuckles and looked over at Sonic. "Oh? And what would that be?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb Eggman!" Knuckles barked at him. "Give us the two Chaos Emeralds you have!"

"And what makes you think I'll just hand them over?"

"Because if you know what's good for you, you'll hand them over," Knuckles replied.

Eggman appeared to be thinking about the situation. Once it had been silent for a while, Eggman grinned again and spoke up. "Okay, here's the deal Knuckles," Eggman started, indicating he speaking to him only. "I'll hand over the Chaos Emeralds is you hand over your son."

"NO!" Knuckles yelled at him. "There is no way I will give you Justin!"

Justin hid behind Knuckles and let out a low whimper. "Daddy, don't make me go," he whispered.

Knuckles turned and bent down in front of him.

"You must be crazy if you think I'm going to hand you over in exchange for some stupid jewels," he told him.

"But, you need those to get me home," Justin said.

"Then we'll just have to think of another way to get them then, won't we?"

Justin smiled and nodded. "Right," he said.

Behind them, Eggman cleared his throat rather loudly. "Knuckles, my patience is wearing thin. What's your decision?" he asked. "The boy or the jewels?"

Knuckles glared at Eggman as if he was trying to burn a hole through him.

"My decision is… to take you out first!" he exclaimed, jumping in the air towards Eggman.

Eggman smirked as he lightly laid a finger on top of a button in his hover car. "Bad move Knuckles, a very bad move."

Eggman pressed the button which sent a cage down trapping Justin within.

"Daddy!"

Knuckles whirled around at the sound of Justin's cry, only to receive a sharp pain in his back. One of the robots had its hand to Knuckles' back and was sending high volts of electricity through Knuckles' body. Once the robots let go, Knuckles collapsed to the floor. He tried to get up, but the robots punched him back down and shocked him until he fell unconscious. Justin stared on with wide eyes. This time, Rouge tried to land an attack.

"You're dead Eggman!" she hollered as she charged at him.

"Wrong again," Eggman said as he pressed another button.

This time, another robot charged forward at Rouge and punched her hard in the stomach, causing her to go flying backwards into a wall. She felt her right wing break and grunted as she hit the floor. She glared up at Eggman, her breathing heavy.

"Nice try, Eggman," she said, slowly standing up.

"Yes that was a nice try wasn't it? But _this_ will be a _great_ try!" he exclaimed.

The same robot charged at Rouge once more and pinned her up against a wall. Another one came up and punched her repeatedly all over her body. Rouge tried to get several hits in, but the robots quick blows were too fast for her to get a hit anywhere. Eggman's technology had definitely improved since their last encounter. Rouge felt herself growing weaker as the robots continued to beat her. Soon, she couldn't hold her eyes open anymore and fell unconscious. When the robots let go of Rouge, she fell to the floor face forward and lay there motionless like Knuckles.

"Mommy!" Justin screamed. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he glanced back and forth between his mother and father. He shook on the bars, trying to get out, but to no avail. "Mommy, Daddy! Mommy, Daddy!" he screamed repeatedly.

Eggman just grinned. "Well, it seems my new robots, were just too much for them," he said. "Now," his eyes narrowed, "get the rest of them."

He pressed another button, activating all the robots. They all took a step towards Sonic and the rest. Sonic got into a fighting position.

"Guys get ready! Eggman, bring it on!" he challenged.

"That I will Sonic, that I will," Eggman said.

All the robots began to march towards Sonic and the gang. Sonic quickly spun around to face everyone.

"I'll go try to wake up Knuckles, Shadow you go see if Rouge is okay and the rest of you, just give it everything you've got. We're gonna teach Eggman what happens when you mess with friends!" he explained.

Everyone nodded before putting their plan into action. Sonic rolled into a ball and did a Spin Dash over to Knuckles, destroying any robots in his path. Shadow Chaos Controlled over to Rouge, then spun around and used Chaos Spear on all the robots who were still staring at the spot where Shadow just disappeared from. Everyone else was just dishing out all of their strongest attacks. Tails had called for the X-Tornado from his communicator and was hovering above any of the robots' reach while he waited for it to come.

---

"Knuckles, hey Knuckles wake up," Sonic said, shaking the red echidna.

Sonic didn't get any kind of response or movement.

"C'mon bud, it takes more then electricity to knock you out. C'mon wake up Knux," he said.

A small groan escaped Knuckles' mouth. Sonic saw Knuckles' hand slowly clench into a fist then unclench like he was testing to see if he had a hand or not. Sonic saw Knuckles' eyelids flutter before they opened completely and looked over at Sonic.

"S-Sonic, what happened to Justin and Rouge?" he asked.

"Justin's trapped in a cage and Rouge is knocked out. Shadow's watching over her, but I'm unsure if she's alright. We need your help buddy," Sonic explained.

Knuckles' eyes widened at the news. He stood up quickly despite all the pain coursing throughout his body and stared over at Rouge who was being propped up by Shadow, but otherwise unmoving. Knuckles stared on at her, his eyes filled with worry.

"Rouge…" he said in a hushed voice.

He slowly began to walk over to her. He ignored all of the commotion going on around him, his mind clearly set on Rouge. He stopped several feet in front of her, before bending down. Without taking his stare off Rouge, Knuckles spoke to Shadow.

"Shadow, go get Justin out of that cage," he said.

"But Knuckles-," Shadow started.

"Do it," Knuckles said in the form of a demand.

Shadow got up and walked over to the cage Justin was being held in. Shadow quickly used Chaos Spear and cuts several of the bars in half. Without thanking Shadow, Justin scurried over to Knuckles and Rouge. Justin fell to his knees next to Knuckles and began to shake Rouge, desperately wanting her to open her eyes.

"Mommy! Get up Mommy!" he yelled at her. "Daddy, why isn't she waking up?" he asked.

Knuckles didn't answer him. He was too busy thinking of a way to destroy all of Eggman's robots and maybe even Eggman himself. Knuckles glanced around the room they were in. Knuckles spotted the two Chaos Emeralds Eggman had inside a machine near the end of the hallway. Destroying that would allow them to snatch the emeralds. But, how could they manage to do it without Eggman spotting them? Knuckles' eyes widened as an idea came to mind.

"Sonic, Shadow, Tails get over here!" Knuckles hollered.

The three of them were at Knuckles' side in a minute.

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"I've got an idea on how to get the Chaos Emeralds and defeating Eggman. Tails, do you have any kind of smoke bomb or something?" Knuckles asked.

Tails nodded, pulling out several small black balls.

"Good, you throw those to the ground in between us and Eggman and his robots and I'll go over and break the emeralds out of that machine over there while Eggman can't see anything. Sonic and Shadow, you both will turn Super and when the smoke clears, combine your attacks so that we can wipe out all the robots. I'll gather Amy, Silver and Blaze up over here and after the robots are destroyed, Shadow can Chaos Control us out of here, before Eggman knows what happened," Knuckles explained. "Everyone get it?"

Sonic, Shadow and Tails nodded. Justin then tapped Knuckles on his shoulder.

"Daddy, what can I do?" he asked.

"You look after your mother and make sure nothing else happens to her," Knuckles answered.

Justin nodded and gave Knuckles a salute. "Copy that!" he said.

Knuckles couldn't help but smile at Justin as he turned back to face Sonic, Shadow and Tails.

"Okay, let's do this," he said.

Tails ran to a gap between them and Eggman before throwing all three smoke bombs down on the ground. They immediately burst open and a thick black smoke began to fill the room, creating a wall between Sonic and the gang and Eggman.

"What the-?" Eggman yelled. "What's happening?"

Knuckles dashed over to the machine and punched the glass causing it to crack slightly. He threw another punch at it before it broke. Knuckles grabbed both emeralds and turned back to Sonic and Shadow who had the other five emeralds in their hands.

"Sonic, catch!" Knuckles yelled, throwing the emeralds over.

Sonic caught the two emeralds and he and Shadow began focusing on the emeralds to change into their Super Forms. The emeralds formed a circle around them and Sonic and Shadow lifted off the ground a bit. A bright light flashed and when it disappeared, Super Sonic and Super Shadow were floating before them.

The smoke was beginning to fade away. Super Sonic and Super Shadow were powering up their attacks waiting for the exact moment to strike. Knuckles found Amy, Silver and Blaze and led them over to Tails, Rouge and Justin. They all turned so they could see the outline of Eggman slowly grow more visible through the smoke.

"What in the world is going on here? I demand to know what's happening!" Eggman yelled in frustration.

There was now only a thin layer of smoke separating Sonic and the gang from Eggman. Once it cleared, Eggman opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. Before him were Super Sonic and Super Shadow, holding two huge balls of Chaos Energy in their hands. Eggman gulped as sweat rolled down his face.

"Um, can't we talk about this?" he asked nervously.

"Now guys!" Knuckles ordered.

"SONIC WIND!"  
"CHAOS BLAST!"

Super Sonic and Super Shadow thrust their hands forward and released their attacks towards Eggman. The robots before them were obliterated on contact. Eggman quickly turned his hover car around to try and escape the quickly growing explosion. Sonic and Shadow's super forms faded away and they ran back to the group. Shadow grabbed one of the emeralds Tails and Amy were holding and prepared for Chaos Control.

When the Chaos Emeralds were charged up again, Shadow yelled, "Chaos Control!" and they disappeared in a flash of light.

The explosion caused by Sonic and Shadow had spread throughout Eggman's base destroying it completely. High above, Eggman glared down at his now destroyed base. He turned away and flew off into the distance to plot his next plan and to find another base.

---

Rouge's eyes slowly fluttered open a bit. Her vision was blurry at first and she had to blink a couple times before the purple dots would stop dancing in front of her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was lying on her couch in her house. How she got here she didn't know. All she remembered was being knocked out by several of Eggman's robots after seeing Knuckles fall unconscious. Rouge slowly sat up and let out a yelp of pain as a sharp pain ran through her right wing. Her yelp caught the attention of the red echidna that had been asleep in the chair next to her.

"Oh good, you're awake," Knuckles said, letting out a large yawn. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I think I broke my right wing," Rouge replied.

"Here, let me see," Knuckles said.

Rouge sat up and Knuckles went to sit behind her. She felt awkward with Knuckles being behind her, so she tried to start a conversation to get her mind off the uncomfortable feeling.

"Is Justin okay?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. I put him to bed because he kept worrying you weren't going to wake up. I told him you were waiting for him to go to sleep before you would wake up and he bought it. We really worried him today," Knuckles explained.

"We did?"

"Yeah," Knuckles said, fingering certain spots on Rouge's wing. "Sonic told me that once I fell unconscious, Justin got trapped in a cage. Then he told me you tried to attack and ended up falling unconscious as well. Apparently, Justin started crying when he saw us and was going hysterical."

"So, you all got the Chaos Emeralds then?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, and we also destroyed Eggman's base. Shadow Chaos Controlled us back to Tails' before we got caught in the explosion. Tails said he's going to start on the time machine to get Justin back. I took you back to your house and laid you down here. You've been out for five hours," said Knuckles.

Knuckles continued to finger Rouge's wing to try and find the broken bone. Rouge didn't know what else to ask or say, so she remained quiet. The room fell silent as both Knuckles and Rouge couldn't think of anything to say. Rouge flinched several times, as Knuckles' hand ran over her wing. She let out a cry as Knuckles found the bone that was out of place.

"Sorry," Knuckles apologized when he heard Rouge cry out in pain. "There are two bones that are out of place. I can try to move the bones back into place, but it may hurt," he told her.

"Go ahead," Rouge said.

"Tell me if I hurt you and I'll stop."

Knuckles gently put one hand on Rouge's shoulder and another on one of the out of place bones. Rouge closed her eyes ready to endure any pain, but was confused when there wasn't any. Instead, she felt a relaxing sensation. Rouge craned her neck around a bit.

"Knuckles? What are you doing?" she asked.

"If I massage your wing, the bones may loosen up and I'll be able to move them back easier and it might not hurt as much," Knuckles explained as he massaged Rouge's wing. "Let me know if I hurt you alright?"

Rouge felt herself blush a bit as Knuckles' hand moved over her wing. Soon, his other hand joined in. Rouge smiled a bit as she closed her eyes and relaxed. Knuckles smiled too when he felt Rouge relax. If she wasn't tense, his job would be a lot easier. He rubbed his thumbs around the bone that was sticking up to try and loosen it up. He smirked a bit when he heard Rouge let out a small moan.

"You like that don't you?" he asked.

Rouge smiled and nodded her head in response. Knuckles continued to massage Rouge's wing for her own enjoyment, even though he knew the bone was loose enough to be moved now. Rouge shivered at Knuckles' touch. She had to admit that she was enjoying this. She continued to let out several soft moans when Knuckles massaged a certain part of her wing.

Her moment of pleasure ended though as Knuckles stopped massaging her wing. Rouge let out a depressed sigh which was followed by a chuckle from Knuckles.

"Sorry Rouge, but all good times must come to an end at some point," he said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Rouge mumbled.

"I'm going to try and move the bones back into place now okay? Just yell if I hurt you," he told her.

Rouge nodded. Placing one hand on her hip and the other on the first bone, Knuckles started his work. Slowly and carefully, he pushed the bone back into place. Rouge grunted as she felt it sting a bit, but wouldn't let herself scream.

"Are you okay?" Knuckles asked her.

Rouge nodded again.

"Okay then, I'm going to move the last one," he told her.

He moved his hand that was on her hip, up to her wing for support as he fingered the space the bone had to go into. He gently pressed the last bone back into place. This one hurt more then the last one and Rouge let out a scream and pulled away. Knuckles quickly put his hands down.

"I'm sorry Rouge! I-I didn't mean to!" he said.

Rouge took a deep breath and scooted back to Knuckles. "I know; I just overacted a bit," she said.

"Here," Knuckles outstretched his hand to her, "squeeze my hand when I start to hurt you and I'll know when to ease back."

Rouge took his hand. "Okay, go on," she said.

Knuckles put his free hand on the bone and pressed it again. Rouge flinched and grunted as she squeezed Knuckles' hand. Knuckles flinched himself from how much of a tight grip Rouge had. He let go for a moment to let Rouge calm down before trying again. Rouge flinched again and squeezed Knuckles' hand.

"It's almost there," Knuckles told her. "One more time should do it."

"Okay."

Knuckles pushed the bone once more and it fell back into place. This time, Rouge only squeezed Knuckles' hand and shut her eyes. Knuckles smiled when his work was done. He noticed Rouge still hadn't let go of his hand.

"Uh, Rouge, you can let go now. I'm finished," he said.

Rouge opened her eyes then quickly let go of his hand. "Oh. Sorry," she muttered.

Knuckles shook it off. "Do you have any bandages anywhere? I need to make sure the bones won't move again."

"Yeah, there's some in the kitchen," Rouge replied.

Knuckles walked into the kitchen and found the bandages in a drawer below the sink. He walked back into the main room and sat back down behind Rouge. He was wrapping it around Rouge's wing when she started talking.

"Hey Knuckles, thanks for all you've done," she said. "I mean, I always get you into trouble, but you never act like you're mad at me. Why?" she asked.

Knuckles finished tying off the bandage before saying, "Because you're my friend Rouge and that's what friends do; they help each other when help is needed. I don't care if I get into some sort of trouble. All I care about is making sure you're safe."

Rouge smiled real big. "You really mean that?" she asked.

"Sure. Why would I lie?"

"It's just that we were always huge rivals and after all the times I tricked you…" Rouge trailed off and looked away.

To Rouge's surprise, Knuckles began laughing a little. "That's behind us now. What's done is done and we can't change the past so don't worry about it," Knuckles told her.

The clock above them chimed midnight and Rouge and Knuckles looked up at it.

"It's getting pretty late. Guess we should head to bed," Knuckles said.

"Yeah," Rouge agreed.

She got up off the couch and began walking towards the stairs, when she turned around realizing Knuckles wasn't following her. She saw he was lying on the couch, his eyes already closed.

"Don't you want to use one of the guest bedrooms?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm fine right here. Thanks for the offer though," he replied, his eyes still closed.

Rouge smiled before walking back over to him. Knuckles opened one eye as he heard her approach him. He saw Rouge lean over and kiss him on the cheek. Knuckles blushed a light pink as she pulled away.

"Thanks again Knuckie," she whispered.

Knuckles smiled and shut his eye. "Anytime," he replied.

Rouge gazed at Knuckles for a moment before walking upstairs to her room. When Knuckles heard the door shut, he got up off the couch and walked over to the back door and stared up at the moon and stars. He thought over the past few hours before walking back over to the couch and lying back down. As Knuckles fell asleep, he thought of what the future had in store for him and what surprises could be waiting just around the corner.

**Okay, I know there was a bit of disappointment of Rouge being a bit to 'weak' in the previous chapters. I know she really is one of the strongest characters in the series, but I made her like I did, because it's how I wrote the story and also because of what will happen later on. So, sorry to those who were disappointed.**

**Also, I am planning to make a sequel to this story. It probably won't be real long maybe just 4 chapters or something, but I am planning to make one. **


	9. Birthday

**Okay, here's a nice long chapter to make up for how long it took me to update. Now enjoy it or else! XP**

**Disclaimer: Look at chapter 2.**

Chapter 9

"Daddy, Daddy wake up! C'mon get up!" Justin yelled as he frantically shook Knuckles.

Knuckles lazily opened one eye to see his miniature self hopping up and down in front of him. "What?" he asked.

Justin began pulling on Knuckles' arm. "Get up! It's my birthday! We have to go!" he said.

"Go where? And how can you be so hyper this early? It's only eight," Knuckles complained, turning so his back was facing Justin.

"It's eleven dad," Justin sighed. "Now get up we have lots to do!"

"What are you talking about?" Knuckles asked.

"Oh yeah, you don't know," Justin mumbled to himself. He began explaining. "Today is my birthday and on my birthday, you and I spend the day together. Last year when I turned 4 you took me to the beach and we watched the sun set."

Knuckles had woken up by now and was sitting up listening to Justin. "Really today is your birthday?" he asked. Justin nodded. "And you don't have a big long list of toys you want or something?"

"Nope. The only thing I want is to spend the whole day with you," Justin replied. He then smiled slyly. "Unless you _want_ to buy me something."

"Uh, let's just stick to the spending the day together," Knuckles replied.

"'Kay!"

"I have to go tell Rouge first then we'll leave," he told him, getting up off the couch and heading up the stairs.

He walked upstairs just in time to see Rouge walking out of her room. Knuckles walked up to her.

"So, is your wing feeling better?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah it is. Why? Were you just coming up here to check up on little ole me?" she asked.

"Well, that's part of the reason and also because apparently, today is Justin's birthday and I'm supposed to spend the whole day with him," he told her.

"Really? Then what do you suggest I do all day long?" she asked.

Rouge's comment stumped him. Knuckles hadn't been expecting that. He'd just have to come up with something.

"Um… well… you can do whatever you please I guess. Maybe… um… got to the, uh, mall?" he suggested.

Rouge's eyes lit up. "Fine by me! Hopeyouhavefunbye!" she said, zipping down the stairs and out of the house at a speed that would have made Sonic jealous.

Knuckles sweat dropped before walking back downstairs. He saw Justin staring at the direction Rouge had dashed off too, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. When he heard Knuckles come, he turned to look at him.

"Daddy, where did Mommy zoom off to?" he asked, pointing towards the door that had been left ajar.

"Take a good guess," Knuckles told him, smirking.

Justin grinned up at him. "Go look at jewels?"

"Eh, close enough," Knuckles answered, shrugging one shoulder. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"You bet!" Justin exclaimed.

Justin jumped on Knuckles' back and rode him out of the house.

---

Knuckles and Justin first stopped at a restaurant for breakfast. They sat down at a table by a window. To Knuckles, it seemed as though Justin had just opened his menu for a quick glance before he knew what he wanted.

"Hey Daddy, can I get the chocolate chip pancakes?" he asked.

"Sure you can," Knuckles replied. "You can have whatever you want today."

"Can I get 7 chocolate chip pancakes?" Justin asked.

Knuckles frowned. "Don't push it," he said.

Justin gave a sheepish grin before the waitress came over to take their orders. They both ordered their meals and it came out in under ten minutes. Once it was out, Justin wolfed down his three pancakes before Knuckles had even touched his breakfast. Knuckles just stared at Justin's empty plate with his eyes wide.

"Please say you didn't inherit that from me," he muttered.

Justin giggled before asking, "So, what are we going to do today?"

"What are you asking me for?" Knuckles asked. "Today's your birthday so you choose. I'll do whatever you want to do," he said. "Within reason," he added quickly.

"Okay then. Can we go to the arcade?" Justin asked.

Knuckles swallowed his last piece of his breakfast. "I don't see why not," he replied.

"Cool!" Justin yelled. "Then we can go to the park! Then we can go to the beach and watch the sun set! And after that we can go home and watch the stars!"

"And just what time do you plan to go to bed?" Knuckles asked him.

"I dunno, whenever we get done I guess," he replied.

"Uh-huh. Well then, I guess we better get started," Knuckles said.

"'Kay! Let's go to the arcade first," Justin said.

"Whatever you say."

They paid for their breakfast before leaving the café. They walked down the street to the arcade. When they arrived, Knuckles bought Justin some tokens before Justin zipped off to begin playing games. Knuckles slowly followed him.

He found him playing a game where you roll a ball down a lane and try to get it to go into different sized holes for points. Knuckles watched him for a while before taking a look around the arcade. The room overall was pretty dark. The overhead lights weren't on because the lights that came from the games was enough light to be able to see. It was also very noisy. Almost all the games were on max volume and there were also many kids yelling at their parents to buy them more tokens or screaming at the game because they lost.

Knuckles turned back to Justin after hearing a loud "WINNER!" come from the game. Justin had apparently just made a high score. Tickets came out from a little slot which Justin grabbed. He then turned to Knuckles.

"Daddy look I won!" he told him.

"Yup, I can see that," Knuckles said.

Justin then ran over to a basketball game and looked it up and down. The hoop was up pretty high. He turned back to Knuckles and looked up at him.

"Daddy, can I get on your shoulders to play this game?" he asked.

Knuckles arched an eyebrow. "Isn't that considered cheating?" he asked.

"So? I bet other kids do it all the time," Justin shrugged.

Knuckles shrugged a shoulder. "I don't see any harm in it," he said.

Justin smiled and got on his shoulders and handed him the token. Five balls were released and a timer began counting down. Knuckles picked up a ball and raised it up to Justin. He grabbed it and shot it. It went through.

"Nothin' but net!" the game yelled at them.

"What does that mean?" Justin asked Knuckles.

"Who knows," Knuckles answered, handing him another ball.

Justin made another shot and it went in. When the game was over, a pile of tickets was on the floor in front of them.

"Cool! Look at all the tickets we got Daddy," Justin said.

"Yep. Wanna keep playing or go turn in your tickets for a prize?" Knuckles asked.

"Keep playing," Was his answer.

The next game they played was a racing game. Justin sat in Knuckles' lap and steered as Knuckles kept his foot on the gas petal and did the brakes. Together, they managed to place 4th. They did another race and they made 2nd. Five tickets came out.

"Only five? Man, that's lame," Justin whined.

"Oh lighten up. Look at how many you have already," Knuckles said, referring to the large jumble of tickets Justin was trying to hold. "Why don't we go trade these in for some kind of prize?"

"Okay! Then we can go to the park," Justin said.

Knuckles and Justin walked up to the prize counter and Justin gazed up at the wall of prizes. From candy to disco balls, it was all there. One prize in particular caught Justin's eye and he knew he had to have it. Justin tugged on Knuckles' hand.

"Daddy! Daddy, look it's you! There's a toy of you!" he yelled.

Knuckles followed Justin's finger and sure enough, there was a plushie of himself hanging up on the wall. Knuckles smirked.

"I bet you want that," he said.

"Duh!" Justin replied. "How many tickets is it?" he asked.

Knuckles had to squint at the little card under the toy to read it. "Uh, 1,500 tickets," he read.

Justin looked down at his mound of tickets. "Do you think we have enough?" he asked.

"I'd say if we don't, we're only about ten off," Knuckles said back.

They handed their tickets to the man behind the counter and he stuck them in a machine to see how many they had. They had 1,477.

"We're just 33 off," Knuckles told him.

"Awwww man," Justin complained.

Knuckles squatted down in front of him. "How about you go play one more game. If you can get 33 tickets or more we'll be able to get it," he said.

"And what if I don't?" Justin asked.

"Maybe I can ask to just pay for it instead," he replied.

Justin nodded and took a couple more tokens and dashed off to go try his luck. Knuckles waited for him for about ten minutes before Justin came running back to him, a line of tickets in his hand. He quickly gave them to Knuckles.

"Is that enough? Is it? Is it?" he asked.

Knuckles handed the tickets to the man behind the counter and he added them to their other tickets. The total went up to 1,510. Knuckles grinned and looked down at Justin.

"We're in good shape," he said, giving him a wink.

Justin jumped in joy. "Yay! Tell him I want the toy of you!"

Knuckles asked for the plush toy of himself and the man handed it to him. Knuckles gave it to Justin who squeezed it in an enormous hug. Knuckles smiled and he, Justin and Knuckles Jr. walked out of the arcade and down to the park.

---

Knuckles and Justin stayed at the park for several hours. Justin had talked Knuckles into playing hide-and-go-seek with him as well as tag. Knuckles was now sitting on a bench taking a small nap, while Justin played on the playground with Knuckles Jr.

"Daddy! Hey Daddy come here!" Justin called to him.

Knuckles opened one eye and looked at the direction the voice was coming from. Justin was waving at him from the top of the playground. Knuckles got up and walked over to him.

"What is it?" Knuckles asked.

Justin pointed a couple feet away from him. "Look, there's a puppy over there," he said.

Knuckles followed his finger and saw a little brown dog walking around a small field across from the playground. Justin had slid down the slide he was standing next to and began walking towards the dog.

"Wait, where are you going?" Knuckles asked.

"I want to go pet the puppy," Justin said.

"We don't know who it belongs to. It may be a stray and if it is, it could get you sick," Knuckles told him.

"It has a collar on," Justin said.

He continued to walk towards it. The dog heard his footsteps and began approaching Justin. Knuckles followed Justin who was now just a few feet away from the dog. Justin knelt down and stuck his hand out towards the dog.

"Justin, be careful," Knuckles said.

"I am," he said back.

The dog stopped in front of Justin's outstretched hand. It slowly sniffed Justin's hand. After it finished, its tongue fell out and it let out a bark and jumped on Justin and began licking him. Justin fell to the ground and began laughing as the dog continued to lick him. When the dog stopped licking Justin, it walked over to Knuckles and looked up at him.

"He likes you Daddy," Justin said.

The dog barked and stared back up at Knuckles. Knuckles just continued to stare down at it.

"Pet him," Justin said. "He's really nice."

Knuckles bent down in front of the dog. He had one second to brace himself before the dog jumped on him as well and started to lick Knuckles. Justin began to laugh again.

"See. I told you he liked you," Justin said.

Once the dog stopped its licks of fury, Knuckles sat up and wiped his face off. Justin sat down next to him and began to pet the dog. The dog just lied down in the grass and enjoyed all the attention it was getting.

"I wonder who it belongs to," Justin said, after a moments worth of silence.

"Don't know," Knuckles replied. "It's wearing a collar, but it doesn't have a tag."

Justin's eyes then lit up. "Can we take him home?" he asked.

The dog barked as if it was saying "Yes please do".

"I don't know," Knuckles said. "I don't much about dogs and how to raise them, plus I don't know if Rouge would like to have it in her house. Let's wait here a bit longer to see if anyone comes looking for it, then if not… I guess we can take him home for one night."

Justin nodded, before scratching the dog's ears. "I wonder what his name is," he mumbled.

"Rusty!" a voice yelled.

Knuckles, Justin and the dog all looked up at the sound of the voice to see a young raccoon girl running up to them. The dog immediately jumped up and began running towards the raccoon. It jumped into the girl's arms and the girl squealed in delight. Justin and Knuckles stood up at the girl walked over to them.

"I hope my dog wasn't bothering you too much. He knows he's supposed to stay in our yard, but he always seems to escape," the girl said.

"Don't worry about it. He didn't bother us at all," Knuckles told her.

The girl smiled before she was called by her mother. The girl turned around to her mother.

"Mommy! I found Rusty!" she yelled.

The mother raccoon walked over to her daughter. She looked at Knuckles.

"Were you the ones who found my daughter's dog?" she asked.

"Well, not exactly," Knuckles said. "The dog actually found us."

The mother raccoon laughed. "Yeah, typical Rusty. Sorry if he bothered you all," she said.

"It's all right ma'am," Knuckles replied.

The raccoon smiled before turning around and walking away. "Come on Sara, let's go home now," she called.

"Okay mama!" the young raccoon yelled back. She turned back to Justin and Knuckles. "Thanks again for finding my dog," she said. Rusty barked in agreement.

Knuckles just smiled as the girl walked off. Once she and her mother were out of view, Knuckles looked down at Justin. He looked real downcast.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked.

"I want a dog," Justin muttered. "I wish we could've kept him."

Knuckles squatted down so he was equal in height with Justin. "How about this," Knuckles started. "I promise that I'll get you a dog in the future okay? Will that make you happy?"

Justin looked up at Knuckles. "You promise?"

"I swear it," Knuckles said.

Slowly, a smile came across Justin's face. "Okay," he said.

"Good," Knuckles said. "So, what's next on your agenda?" he asked.

"Go to the beach and watch the sun set," Justin said.

"Then lead the way," Knuckles said.

"Right!" Justin picked Knuckles Jr. up off the ground and began skipping towards the direction of the beach with Knuckles at his tail.

---

Knuckles and Justin were standing on the beach watching the sun set. Just was on Knuckles' shoulders, with Knuckles Jr. in his grasp and his head resting on top of Knuckles' head. The sun was about halfway down and it was lighting up everything with a golden tint. Shadows grew longer and larger as the sun continued its way down. The ocean was calm and the waves quietly crashed onto the bay and the palm tree leaves blowing gently in the slight breeze. Everything was so peaceful.

Justin lifted his head off Knuckles'. "Daddy?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you and Mommy in the future know I'm missing?" he asked.

"Well, I'm sure we do. I bet we're frantically searching the city right now trying to find out where you went," Knuckles told him.

"Do think in the future I'll go missing again?" Justin asked.

"I don't know," Knuckles answered. "I hope not. Maybe you were meant to come back here for some reason. Maybe you got sent back here on accident. Maybe our whole meeting was just fate."

Justin cocked his head at Knuckles' words. "Fate?"

"Yeah." Knuckles looked up at the sky. "A twist of fate."

"I don't know what you just said, but I like how it sounded," Justin said, resting his head on Knuckles' again.

Knuckles chuckled. "Yeah, me too," he agreed.

The sun had now almost set completely. There was just a tiny yellow sliver of the sun peeking over the ocean. The stars were becoming more visible and the moon had become visible. The air was also beginning to get cooler too.

"The ocean is eating the sun," Justin said out of nowhere.

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"It looks like the ocean is eating the sun," Justin repeated. He pointed at the horizon line where the sun had just hidden behind. "See? Now the ocean is swallowing the sun. The ocean's mouth is open so the sun is glowing out of its mouth."

Knuckles smirked and shook his head. "You're crazy," he said.

"I know," Justin sighed, letting out a large yawn.

Knuckles looked up at Justin as best he could and asked, "Getting tired?"

"No," Justin lied.

"I think you are. It's getting pretty late," Knuckles said. "We should probably head home to get dinner. Besides, Rouge is probably wondering where we are."

"But I'm not…" another yawn escaped Justin. "…tired yet. I still want to watch the stars."

"If you wake up in between when we get home and finish dinner, we can go watch the stars from Rouge's backyard. Deal?" Knuckles offered.

"Fine," Justin sighed.

---

When they got home, Rouge was in the kitchen fixing dinner. Justin ran up to her and showed her Knuckles Jr. and began explaining what he and Knuckles did. Knuckles went to lie down on the couch.

"Then Daddy and I went to the park! Then this dog was walking around and I got to pet him, but his owner found him and took him home. And then we went to the beach to watch the sun set and then we argued about how I'm not tired and then we came home!" Justin finished explaining.

"Sounds like you all had an eventful day," Rouge said. "Have you had dinner yet?" she asked.

"Nope! What are we having?" Justin asked.

"Pizza."

"Yay! I love pizza! You never make it for me in the future, Mommy. You say I eat it too much," Justin told her.

"I bet you do too," Rouge said.

"Hey! I don't have it that much! Just once or twice a week," he argued.

"Uh-huh, I'll believe that when I'm actually there to see it," Rouge replied.

---

After dinner, Justin managed to convince Knuckles that he was not tired and still wanted to stay up and watch the stars. The two of them went out to the backyard and lay down in the grass. Justin scooted over to Knuckles and hugged him.

"Is this our last night together?" he asked.

"I don't know. It all depends on when Tails finished the machine," Knuckles answered.

"When will that be?"  
Knuckles looked down at Justin. "I have no idea," he said.

"I hope it's not soon," Justin said. "I don't want to leave."

"It's not like you're going to a whole new family. You'll still see us. Rouge and I will just be older," Knuckles told him.

"I know but…" Justin trailed off.

"It's not the same, I know," Knuckles finished for him. "Just don't worry about it. I'll see you again soon."

They were silent for a while before Justin yawned.

"Daddy, I'm ready to go to bed now," he said.

"Okay. I think I'm about to go turn in myself," Knuckles agreed.

"Will you carry me up to my room?" Justin asked.

Knuckles nodded and stood up. Justin climbed into his arms and Knuckles walked back into the house and took Justin up to his room. He put him in the bed and covered him up. Justin smiled up at him.

"I love you Daddy," he whispered.

"I love you too kiddo," Knuckles whispered back, smiling down at him.

With that, he walked to the door and turned the lights off. Knuckles smiled one last time before shutting the door and walking back downstairs to tell Rouge he was going to bed as well.

**That's all folks! Stay tuned because the next time I update will be the last. That's right; the next chapter is the final chapter for A Twist of Fate! Noooooooooooo! **


	10. Final Goodbye

**Well, here it is guys, the final installment of A Twist of Fate. I hope you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Out of all the stories I've written, I feel this one was the best out of all of them. I really felt like I put everything I could into it to make it as could as it could be. **

**I would like to thank all my reviewers and even those who read it, but never reviewed. Your reviews are what motivated me to finish this story and not just leave it hanging. So, thank you!**

**Also, I would appreciate it if you gave me a rating out of 10 (1 being horrible and 10 being perfect) in your reviews for the entire story, not just this chapter. I would like to see what everyone thought of this story. So, with all that out of the way, I hope you will enjoy the final chapter of A Twist of Fate! **

Chapter 10

The phone rang early the next morning. A very tired Knuckles rose out of bed to go answer it, since Rouge was apparently either in such a deep sleep that she couldn't hear it or she was just trying to ignore it. Knuckles picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Knuckles, it's Tails," Tails' voice greeted him on the other side.

"Oh," a large yawn escaped Knuckles, "hey Tails. What's up?"

"I called to tell you that I've finished the machine to send Justin back," he said.

Knuckles looked down at the floor. "Oh," he said.

There was an uncomfortable silence which was soon broken by Tails' voice.

"Knuckles, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah I-I'm fine," Knuckles replied, although that was far from the right answer. "Um, w-when exactly did you want to send him back?" he finally asked.

Knuckles heard the phrase, "I was hoping today" before his mind wandered off. Today? Justin had to go back _today_? Knuckles knew he would have to be sent back, but he hadn't expected it to be this soon. It had barely been over a month. Knuckles knew Justin would be really upset if he had to go back the day after his birthday.

"… if we don't, it may be too late," Tails finished an apparently long explanation of something Knuckles completely daydreamed through.

"Uh…uh," Knuckles had no idea why he was stuttering so much. Was it just because of the thought of Justin having to leave? "Tails? Can't you give us one more day together? I mean, I was expecting you to give us at least a days notice," he said.

"Well, I guess he can stay one more day. I'm just worried about him disappearing. If that happens, it won't matter if he goes back or not, because you'll never see him again," Tails told him. "But… I guess he can stay an extra day," he said although his voice sounded very reluctant.

"Thanks Tails, I know it'll mean a lot to Justin," Knuckles replied before hanging up. _"At least I hope it does,"_ he added in his thoughts.

---

After hanging up, Knuckles decided he couldn't get back to sleep even though it was only 8:30a.m, so he went downstairs to eat breakfast. He was really surprised to see Rouge already awake and dressed and halfway done with breakfast.

"What are you doing up so early?" Knuckles asked her.

Rouge let out an exasperated sigh. "The President called me at three this morning saying he needed me to come into work for some kind of emergency. He wouldn't tell me what," she said.

"What?! Now?!" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I just got a call from Tails saying that… we only have one day left with Justin before he has to be sent back," he said.

Rouge's eyes widened. Now it was her turn to be shocked. "What? He has to leave already?" she asked.

"Yeah, Tails actually wanted him to go back today, but I asked to give him an extra day," he said.

"Can't you call Tails back and ask to give us another day with him? Otherwise I won't be able to spend any time with him!" Rouge said.

"You won't be able to spend any time with who?" a somewhat tired voice asked.

Knuckles and Rouge spun around to see Justin standing in front of the stairs with a questioning look on his face. Knuckles and Rouge glanced at each other with worried expressions.

"Who won't you be able to see Mommy?" Justin asked again.

Rouge hesitantly knelt down in front of him. "Well, you know how our friend Tails was building a time machine to send you back?" she asked.

Justin nodded. "Yeah. What about it?" he asked.

"Well…" Rouge trailed off and looked at Knuckles.

"It's finished and," Knuckles paused and looked down at the floor, "this is your last day with us. We're supposed to send you home tomorrow," he finished.

"No! I don't want to go home!" Justin cried. He then turned to Rouge. "Why won't you be able to see me today?" he asked.  
"I got a very urgent call from my boss today and I have to go into work today," Rouge replied. "I really don't want to go."

"Then don't!" Justin yelled. "You have to stay if this is my last day here!"

"I really wish I could, but if I don't go in I could get fired," she said.

Just then, Rouge's cell phone went off. She reached into her purse to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Rouge, this is the President. Why haven't you gotten here yet?" he asked her in a very impatient voice.

"Listen, do I really need to come into work today? You see… it's kinda hard to explain but, my son has to leave tomorrow and if I go into work today, I won't be able to see him at all today. It's his last day here; do I really have to go in?" Rouge asked.

"I'm very sorry to hear about your son, but I'm afraid you have to come in. It's very urgent and you're the only one I can turn to," the President replied.

Rouge sighed. "Fine, I guess I'll come in…" she muttered. She hung up and hung her head.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go in," she told Justin.

"No! You can't Mommy!" Justin yelled.

Knuckles knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Justin, she needs to go in. If she doesn't she'll lose her job. You'll be able to see her tonight and tomorrow. It's not like you'll leave without telling her goodbye," Knuckles told him.

"Do you promise I'll be able to see her before I… leave?" he asked.

"I promise," Knuckles said.

"Okay, you can go in Mommy," Justin said.

"Well, I'm glad I have your permission," Rouge smirked.

She gave Justin a hug before leaving. Once she was gone, Justin let out a sigh and walked over to the window and watched her drive away. Knuckles walked up behind him. It was silent for a while until Justin spoke up.

"I'm not going back," he said.

"What?" Knuckles asked, not quite catching what he had said.

Justin turned to face him. "I said I'm not going back. I'm staying here," he repeated.

"Justin, I know how much you want to stay here, but you need to go back, no matter how much you don't want to go back. I don't want to send you back either," Knuckles told him.

"Then why are you?" Justin asked, tears forming in his eyes. "If you really loved me you wouldn't send me back!" he yelled.

"Justin, please. You-."

"No!" Justin screamed, the tears now beginning to roll down his face. "I don't want to leave!"

"But you need-."

"I don't care! You can't make me go back! I won't go back!" he hollered.

"I don't want you to either, but if you don't-."

"I know what will happen! But there has to be another way!" he cried.

"There is no other way!" Knuckles snapped at him. He saw Justin take a step back from him. Knuckles let out a sigh before squatting down. "Justin please listen to me. I don't want you to go back. I really don't. But if you don't you'll disappear and won't see me, Rouge, or our future selves ever again! Please, just go through with this," he explained to him.

"I hate you…" Justin muttered, staring down at the floor. His stare turned into a hard glare as he leveled his eyes with Knuckles'. "I hate you Daddy! I'm not going back! I _hate_ you!" he screamed so loud, Knuckles was sure the neighbors heard every word.

Justin then ran up the stairs and seconds later, a door was slammed shut. Knuckles stood there shocked. Justin's words had hit him hard. He felt as though he had just been shot in the chest.

_"I hate you Daddy!" _That one sentence replayed over and over again in his head until Knuckles had a headache.

Knuckles sat down on the couch behind him and buried his head in his hands. What a good father he was; forcing his son to the point so he said he hated him. Now, Justin hated him and Knuckles knew he could never get Justin to go back until they made up. He desperately wished that Rouge didn't have to go into work and was here right now to help him and comfort him.

Up in his room, Justin was lying on the bed with his face in the pillow, clutching Knuckles Jr. close to his chest and sobbing quietly.

_I close my eyes when I get too sad  
I think thoughts that I know are bad_

He knew he couldn't hate Knuckles forever, but how could Knuckles want him to leave? He was his dad and he was sending him away.

_Close my eyes and I count to ten  
Hope its over when I open them_

Justin rolled onto his side and stared at the wall. It was because Knuckles loved him. That's why he was doing this. He just didn't want Justin to get hurt. It was an act of love.

_I want the things that I had before  
Like a star wars poster on my bedroom door  
I wish I could count to ten  
Make everything be wonderful again_

But still, here was different then the future and to Justin, it was different for the better: he had his parents with him almost 24 hours a day.

_Close my eyes when I go to bed  
And I dream of angels who make me smile_

It wasn't like that in the future. In the future, both Knuckles and Rouge left pretty early in the morning for work and Justin stayed home alone most of the day. Neither of his parents got home until around six.

_I feel better when I hear them say  
Everything will be wonderful someday_

Justin didn't want to leave for that reason. He didn't want to be left alone again.

_Promises mean everything when youre little  
And the worlds so big  
I just dont understand how  
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes  
Tell me everything is wonderful now_

---

At least one hour had gone by since Justin had disappeared upstairs. Knuckles had remained on the couch figuring out different ways to get Justin to see the real reason he was doing this. After he thought he had come up with a good explanation, Knuckles stood up and walked upstairs to Justin's room. He stopped outside the door to listen. Knuckles could barely make out the soft cries coming from the other side of the door. His heart sank at the sound of them. What kind of father makes his own son cry? Knuckles took a deep breath before gently knocking on the door.

"Justin?" he called out.

"Go away!" the muffled voice of Justin answered him.

Knuckles sighed. "May I please come in?" he asked.

_Please dont tell me everything is wonderful now._

Knuckles heard footsteps on the other side of the door. He heard the lock on the door click and Justin opned the door.

_Go to my room and I close my eyes  
I make believe that I have a new life_

"What do you want?" Justin asked.

Knuckles squatted down in front of him and Justin crossed his arms. "I just wanted to apologize for yelling at you. That's not something a father should do to his son. Do you accept my apology?" he asked.

"I do about you yelling at me, but not about sending me back," Justin said.

"Is there any way I could get you to forgive me?" Knuckles asked.

"Not letting me go," Justin muttered.

_I dont believe you when you say  
Everything will be wonderful someday_

Knuckles couldn't help but chuckle. "If I try to explain things to you nicer then I did before, will you listen?" he asked.

"Maybe," Justin said.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Knuckles said, a small smile on his face. "May I come in?"

"I guess," Justin mumbled.

He went over and climbed back onto the bed and held Knuckles Jr. again. Knuckles sat down on the bed next to him.

_Promises mean everything when youre little  
And the world is so big_

"Okay, first of all, tell me the reason you don't want to go back," Knuckles told him.

Justin stared down at the bed. "Well… in the furture, you and Mommy are never home with me. You both leave for work pretty ealry in the morning and you both don't get home until late. I stay home by myself each day and I'm really lonely," he explained. He glanced up at Knuckles and scooted closer to him. Knuckles saw tears had built back up in his eyes. "But here, you and Mommy are here with me all the time, except for today. I just don't want that to change…" he whispered.

_I just dont understand how  
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes_

Knuckles wrapped an arm around him. "That's the reason you don't want to leave?" he asked.

Justin nodded into his side. Knuckles gave a small smile. "I know how you feel. My father was always busy so we could never spent much time together so when we did have time together, it meant a lot to me. Then when he died, that all changed; I couldn't spend any time with him anymore," he told him.

"What about your mommy?" Justin asked.

"I never knew her," Knuckles replied.

"Why?"

"My father said she died the day after I was born because she had been sturck with a horrible illness while having me," he answered.

_When you tell me everything is wonderful now_

"You mean you grew up without a mommy?!" Justin seemed shocked.

"Not everyone is as lucky as you to have two loving parents. Some people may have one parent who takes care of them while the other lives miles and miles away. Even worse, some people have parents who hit them and ignore them," Knuckles explained to him.

Justin gave Knuckles a big hug. "I'm glad you and Mommy don't hurt me," he said. He looked up at him. "What do the kids do who have parents who hurt them?" he asked.

"Well, some may have relatives who care for them and take them away from their parents to raise them themselves. Anyways," Knuckles paused for a moment, "the point I'm trying to get across is, even if we leave for work all day, we still love you. There's no need to get so upset about being home all day. You know that once we get home we'll pay attention to you, right?"

"Yeah, but I get so bored," Justin said. "I won't get to spend as much time with you if I leave."

_No  
No, I dont wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now  
No  
No, I dont wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now_

Knuckles smirked. "I'll tell you what," he said. "When you go back, you walk up to my future self and tell him exactly what you just told me and I bet anything he'll spend more time with you."

"You promise?" Justin asked.

"I can't promise for sure since _I _won't techincally be there, but now I know that when my future comes, I'll spend as much time with you as possible," Knuckles told him. "Deal?"

Justin smiled. "Deal," he said.

_I dont wanna hear you say  
That I will understand someday  
No, no, no, no_

_I dont wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now._

Knuckles smiled back at Justin. Justin then wrapped his arms around Knuckles and snuggled up against him, closing his eyes.

"Daddy?" he asked, his voice bareley above a whisper.

"Yes?" Knuckles looked down at him.

Justin squeezed Knuckles harder. "I don't hate you…" he said.

Knuckles smiled again and hugged him back. "I'm glad you changed your mind," he said.

"Me too," Justin mumbled.

---

This was it. The day Knuckles dreaded the most had finally arrived. Today was the day Justin had to be sent back home. As Knuckles got out of bed and walked downstairs, all the times he and Justin had had together replayed in his mind. From their very first meeting, to the drawing in the sand, to finding out Justin was his son, to watching the stars and going to Rouge's, to being captured by Eggman and Justin's birthday, it was all there.

When Knuckles finally made it downstairs, he was a bit surprised to find his eyes watering. He faught them back though, telling himself that it was for the best that Justin had to leave, although something in the pit of his stomach begged to differ.

Justin walked down the stairs ten minutes later with the biggest frown on his face Knuckles had ever seen. He saw Justin try to smile although it ended up looking like a face you have when you're about to puke.

Once Rouge had woken up, still tired from having to work late, she started to make breakfast. Not much conversation was exchanged during breakfast. At noon, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Knuckles answered.

"It's Tails. Are you guys ready?" he asked.

Knuckles sighed. "Give us just a bit longer, okay?" Knuckles asked.

He heard Tails sigh on the other end. "Knuckles, I know this is hard for you, but if we don't get him back-."

"He'll disappear I know," Knuckles replied in a solemn tone. "Listen, we'll be over there in about half an hour okay?"

"Okay, but if you're not I'm calling again," Tails said.

There was silence from Knuckles.

"I know how you feel and believe me, I'm against doing this as well, but, it's for the best," Tails said.

"Yeah I know," Knuckles said back. "We'll be over soon." With that he hung up.

Knuckles turned around to find Justin standing behind him holding Knuckles Jr. Rouge was right behind him.

"Do I have to go now?" Justin asked in a meek voice.

"Not yet," Knuckles replied. "We have thirty minutes. Then we're expected to be at Tails'."

Justin looked down at the floor. "Okay," he replied.

Knuckles walked up to him. "Justin, please cheer up. You and I went over everything yesterday remember? It'll be fine," he told him.

Justin's eyes started to water. "It just won't be the same!" he cried, before bursting into tears.

Knuckles bent down and hugged him. Rouge also bent down as well and rubbed his back. Knuckles saw she was desperatley trying to hold back tears. The last thirty minutes they had together were spent in each others arms and trying to convince each other everything was going to turn out okay.

---

Knuckles, Justin and Rouge walked into Tails' house. Sonic, Amy and Shadow were there again as well. On the back wall was what looked like a telephone booth to Knuckles, but he knew it was the time machine. Sonic, Amy, Tails and even Shadow were wearing solemn faces as they walked in. Tails slowly walked up to them.

"Well you guys, are you ready?" he asked.

Justin let out a soft whimper. "Can't I say goodbye to everyone first?" he asked, his voice quavering.

Tails nodded and Justin ran over to Sonic and gave him a huge hug. Sonic bent down and hugged him back. "It's been great knowing you," Sonic said. "Take care of yourself."

Next Justin ran over to Amy and gave her a hug. Amy didn't even try and hold back her tears and let them fall right as Justin grabbed her.

"I'll miss you Amy," Justin said.

"I'll miss you too," Amy said.

Justin then ran over to Tails and gave him a hug. Tails gave him a hug back.

"Thank you for finding a way to get me back home," Justin said.

Tails just nodded because he knew if he spoke, he'd break down.

Lastly, Justin slowly walked over to Shadow. He looked up at him before grabbing his legs in a tight embrace. Shadow stared down at him in complete shock.

"Bye Shadow," Justin said.

Shadow bent down and gave Justin a little pat on the head. "See ya," he said in a calm voice, with no hint of emotion what-so-ever.

Justin walked back over to Knuckles and Rouge and gave Rouge another big hug.

"Bye Mommy. I love you," he said, tears beginning to leak out of his eyes.

Rouge shut her eyes as she hugged him back. "I love you too, sweetie," she replied.

Justin pulled back and smiled at her before going over to Knuckles and giving him a hug as well. Knuckles hugged him back, knowing this was the last time he'd ever be with Justin.

"I don't want to go," Justin told him, wiping his eyes.

"I know you don't, but you know you'll see us again," Knuckles said.

"I tust you," Justin whispered. "I love you, Daddy."

Knuckles smiled. "I love you too, kiddo."

Justin pulled back from Knuckles and wiped away his tears before smiling at them. He backed away and looked back at Tails. Tails smiled as Justin approached him.

"I'm ready," he told him.

Tails nodded and Justin stepped into the Time Machine. He looked back at Knuckles and Rouge and smiled once more. Tears leaked out of his eyes and he waved one last time as the door shut. Knuckles clenched his fists together and shut his eyes as he felt Rouge hug him. Tails began pushing buttons to set the destination.

"I don't want him to go," Rouge muttered.

"Me neither, but it's for the best," Knuckles replied, his eyes still shut. "We'll see him again."

"Ready guys?" Tails asked, looking back at them, tears in his eyes as well.

Knuckles and Rouge nodded and Tails put his hand on the lever.

"Wait!" Justin hollered from inside the machine.

Tails opened the door and Justin ran over to Knuckles. He stopped in front of him and held out Knuckles Jr.

"I want you to keep Knuckles Jr. for me Daddy," he said.

Knuckles stared at him in shock. "Are you sure? You won it," he told him.

"I know, but this way, you'll have something to remember me with. Right?" he asked.

Knuckles smiled at him. Justin handed him Knuckles Jr. before backing up into the time machine once more. The door shut and Tails placed his hand on the lever again. He looked over at Justin who nodded at him, telling him he was ready this time. Justin waved from inside the capsule and Knuckles and Rouge both waved back. Tails pulled the lever and began the process. Rouge shut her eyes and clung onto Knuckles.

"I can't believe we're doing this…" she whispered.

There was a bright light inside the capsule and when it disappeared, Justin was gone. Knuckles felt his fists shake and his eyes begin to water. He tried to tell himself it was the right thing to do and that he'd see him again, but it still seemed impossible. He had only known Justin for a few weeks, but over the course of those weeks, Knuckles had bonded so close to Justin that it pained him to see him go. He heard Rouge begin to sob and a few tears rolled down his cheeks as well as he looked down at Knuckles Jr. in his hands.

"Goodbye… Justin," he whispered.

The End


End file.
